Heart to Steel
by waitingfornow
Summary: Dean finds himself re-evaluating everything when a young woman from his past, who is in the same position as Sam, comes back into their life.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! This is my first try at a story inspired by Supernatural. How different would things have gone for the boys if someone from their past suddenly had a bigger stake in their futures than they thought?_

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

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**Chapter One:**

Everything was virtually silent as Dean Winchester stood looking at the car that he'd just demolished. It was his pride and joy, a 1967 Chevy Impala that had practically ended his life, and the lives of his younger brother and father. A car that held good memories, but some memories so painful that there were times when the young man honestly had no idea how to handle it all. Everything that had happened after that crash were still imprinted in his mind. All the pain and suffering he had endured while trapped outside of his body, watching his father and Sam face the possibility of losing him forever. But in the end...it had been John Winchester's life that had ended, not his oldest son's. And that, in a lot of ways, was more painful to endure than his own life barely hanging on by a thread.

Sam was having a hard time dealing with their father's death, that much had been made evident almost minutes before, when the twenty-three year old had come out to try and talk some sense into his older brother. But that was the only way Dean seemed to know how to handle grief; push it into the back of his mind and focus on anything and everything but the thing that was hurting him the most. He wasn't like Sam, he couldn't seem to just open up and say everything that he was thinking and feeling. He couldn't let himself go there, to tell his baby brother the last thing that their father had ever said to them.

Hearing a noise just beyond the silence of his current world made him turn on his heel to see what had caused it. And almost as soon as he laid eyes on the source of the unpermitted sound, a breath caught in his throat. Standing there, dressed in dark, low-rise jeans and a tank top that could probably fit a thirteen year old, was a girl that he hadn't seen in over two years. A girl he had grown up with, not needing to keep any secrets from.

Chance Adams had witnessed his moment of anger on the black Impala, but had decided against saying anything. Almost as soon as she had heard of John's passing, she found herself making the trip from her home to see how the brothers, two people she still considered to be important friends; were dealing with the new blow that life had dealt them. "Good to see you too, Canon."

Almost as soon as the nickname hit the air, Dean couldn't swallow back the chuckle that had passed through his throat. It was honestly a nickname that only she could get away with, since she had been the one to originate it. She had started to call him that just weeks before their sudden departure from each other's lives, a nickname derived from his attitude of going all full speed, with both guns blazing. But now, standing in the cluttered junk yard of Bobby's, he didn't feel like the same person that had forced that nickname into creation. "What're you doing here, Chance?"

A small smile touched her lips when she heard her name pass his lips and a small shrug bounced off her shoulders as she took a couple of steps closer toward him and the car that had seen better days. A car she had practically begged him on a few occasions to let her behind the wheel of. "I heard about John..." She started out, not being able to bring herself to actually say the words that they were both thinking.

"I'm..."

"I know," She interjected, holding a hand up slightly before she slid it back into the confines of her front pocket. "You're fine." She drawled out, her voice still carrying the last remaining part of her hometown. "The tough-guy act didn't work before, it still doesn't work now." She revealed, having had a small idea of just how he would react to losing his father in the way that he had. She still didn't know all the details and even though she wanted to, that was just a question that couldn't pass the tip of her tongue. Not because she didn't want to talk about it, or talk to him about it, but because she had never been the type of person to rip open old wounds.

"Then why are you here?" Dean found himself asking before he could stop himself. The crowbar he'd been holding in a death grip slipped from his fingers and clattered to the dusty ground beneath their feet, but neither set of eyes moved to meet it's destination. "To see how we're holding up?"

"No." She lied, shaking her head slightly as her boots took yet another step closer to where he had moved to when the crowbar found the earth. "Bobby called me. Figured that, since I have some time off from work, that I might want to come down and help him get this place in order." She wasn't really sure where all the lies were coming from, but right then, in that moment, lies seemed easier to handle than the truth. And it wasn't entirely based in fiction. Bobby Singer, the man that she'd grown up to think of as a fatherly figure, had called her shortly after the Impala had been towed to the yard, asking for her help. It was almost as if he was very much aware that her presence was needed in some way, shape, or form. After all, she was just as connected to The Demon as the Winchester family was.

Dean just nodded and looked at the car for a few seconds before he finally allowed himself to look at Chance longer than a few seconds at a time. She had seemed to grow up so much since the last time he'd seen her. That had been back in California, shortly after Sam had decided to leave home for school, and his father had disappeared to trail the Demon that had wrecked their families. In his mind, she had just been a teenage girl, a little girl that had been forced to grow up in a lifestyle that, while it didn't suit her, it had forced her into the woman that was standing in front of him. Her normally short, dark blonde hair had grown longer, now hanging straight down her back. Her skin had also bronzed because of the sun, and she seemed more toned and in shape than the last time he'd seen her. Another noticable difference was the ring she now wore on her left finger. An engagement ring that he had never seen before. Chance wasn't the type to normally wear jewerly, just a necklace that she had never taken off and earrings in her multi-pierced ears. So by her appearing with a ring on a very important finger, clued Dean in to just how much had changed between them in two years. "Well...I'm sure Bobby's glad you're here."

"Maybe." Chance replied with a small shrug of her shoulders. She had a very confusing relationship with Bobby, one that most people didn't really understand. Then again, she had never really tried to explain it because she didn't think there was any real point to. It was what it was, and that was good enough for her and the people that mattered most in her life. Glancing at the car, she slowly ran a finger over the back, passenger fender and looked over at him. "So, you planning on fixing this thing up or making it even more at home in this junk yard?"

Dean just stared at her as she asked that question, almost regretting the moment of anger he had let slip, only because someone had seen it and that person was the last one in the world that he'd expected. No way would he have been able to prepare himself for Chance's re-entrance into his life. He had figured, when they said their goodbyes over two years ago, that he would never really see her again. But apparently he was wrong and the proof was her standing almost directly in front of him. A small shrug bounced off his shoulders as he stared at the car that was pretty much his baby. "I'm gonna fix it up. I just..." Shrugging again as he trailed off, he just gave her a look that proved he wasn't really sure of what to say or do.

She nodded and studied the car for a few minutes before she took a step away from it. "Then, tell you what," she started, changing the subject for his benefit more than her own. "Let me go change and you can tell me what needs to be done. Maybe I can lend a hand." She wasn't sure if she was overstepping any bounds, especially since she didn't really see Sam out here helping his brother out. She was just unsure of a lot and that was something she strongly hated right then.

Yet again, he just stared at her for a second before he found himself nodding at what she was saying. Once Chance Adams had something in her head, there was no talking her out of it. It was something he had learned a long time ago, and never really forgot about. He continued to stay silent as she walked away from the car and walked into what was supposed to be Bobby's house, but also doubled as an office of sorts. Sighing, he just stared at the car as he braced both of his hands on the back fender. He couldn't help but feel even more confused than seconds before putting a dent into the trunk of the Impala.

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It had been close to three days since Chance had stepped back into the Winchester boys' lives and Dean's mood hadn't really improved. They had been told about a job out of Montana and wanted to check it out. But for the first time in a long time, Dean felt a kind of nagging that he wasn't really sure where it had come from. So they had yet to actually leave, hanging around the room that Bobby had let them stay in since cremating their father. Sam was on the computer, doing some research, while Dean lay stretched out on the bed he'd deemed his. He didn't even pick his head up when a sudden, light knock sounded at the door.

Glancing over at the door, Sam looked over at his brother then sighed as he climbed to his feet and walked over to open it. Stepping back when he saw Chance, he smiled and waved her in. "Hey, what's going on?"

She smiled as she carefully entered the room, dimly aware of how cramped the room looked with two bed and a beat-down looking dresser. "Hey, I figured you two would already be gone by now."

Dean couldn't help but look up when he heard what she'd just said, kind of wondering why that statement was crossing her lips. Sure she knew them probably better than anyone else on the planet, minus their father, but sometimes she still had a way of surprising him. Like she had when she'd shown up right after he'd beaten the hell out of the Impala in anger. But at least with that one, he'd gotten off the hook. Chance had yet to pull him aside to talk to him about it, and for that, he wasn't about to start bitching. "Why do you say that?" He asked before he could stop himself.

Chance just shrugged as she went and sat down on the edge of what was Sam's bed. Only way she could tell was because it was half-ass made, whereas Dean's was helter-skelter like always. But in her mind, that just seemed to add to the charm. "Bobby told me about the new gig."

"Yeah, aren't we lucky?" Dean grumbled as his brother closed the door and walked back over to where he'd been sitting. Crossing one leg over the other, his arms followed suit in a futile attempt to get comfortable. Too bad it wasn't going so well and he was beginning to hate how damn cramped the room felt. Of course, there were probably other things contributing to his decrease in a semi-decent mood, but he wasn't ready to delve into that part of his head just yet. He had to focus on the job they were about to do and put the finishing touches on the Impala so they wouldn't have to borrow one of Bobby's cars...again.

"Whatcha mean by that?" She asked, curling her legs up underneath her before resting her arms on her thighs. She was dressed a little more conservatively than she had when she'd run into Dean out in the junkyard. Today was the look that he'd remembered her in; ratty jeans, faded Chuck Taylors, and a tee shirt that looked like it had been picked up at some random thrift store. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, strands of hair spraying over her shoulder whenever she turned to look at someone, or something; but for the most part hung down her back. The necklace she never took off was also on the outside of her shirt, the silver of the chain and pendant glinting slightly in the light. And, letting his eyes scan lower, the ring she was still wearing glittered. It was almost as if that little piece of jewelry was taunting him in some way. It was probably something incredibly crazy to think about but Dean just couldn't force himself to think about anything other than the ring, and what the symbolism it held in her life. It was almost as if she was now a complete stranger to him and everytime he realized that little tidbit, a stabbing pain flooded through his chest.

Tearing his eyes away from her, he just shrugged and sat up, pulling his legs up and wrapped his arms around his raised knees. "Cow mutilations in Montana? Screams fun and amusement for all ages."

Chance couldn't help but roll her eyes lightly at Dean's demenor. Sure, he was dealing with a lot, but the kid she'd grown up was not the man sitting across the small room from her. The Dean Winchester she knew, and had loved once upon a time, was the type to throw himself head-first into a hunt, not dread it. Nodding slowly, she lightly clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, which made a slightly weird sound given the plain, silver barbell that her tongue had been pierced with. Climbing to her feet, she reached into her pocket then tossed something at the older Winchester brother, smiling a little when it hit his chest then fell into his hands when he finally reacted to catch it. "Maybe that'll make you feel better." Winking at Sam, she blew a kiss in Dean's direction then waved slightly as she headed out of the room.

"What'd she toss?" Sam asked only to be ignored when Dean shot to his feet to chase after Chance's retreating form. Shaking his head slightly when the echoing of shoes vibrated against wooden floorboards, he just sighed and returned his eyes to the computer screen. "Oh yeah," he grumbled out as he manuvered the mouse over to an interesting-looking link. "I love my life."


	2. Chapter 2

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

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**Chapter Two:**

Dean sighed to himself as he slowly manuvered the Impala into the hotel he'd picked from the road. He was exhausted, Sam asleep in the seat next to him. It had been a long day and he just wanted to get inside and sleep. But that was something that he wasn't really counting on. Every since leaving Nebraska, he couldn't pull his mind away from Chance. She'd gone home, shortly after surprising Dean with the keys to the Impala. She'd told him that she'd gotten bored, finished the repairs and had it repainted. Her way of letting him know how she felt about everything going down in his life. Chance had always been the type of girl to, instead of offering sympathy and an ear when things went wrong, she did something to lessen burdens as much as she could. He was glad that she hadn't changed so much that she had stopped operating that way under less-than-stellar circumstances.

Once the Impala had been parked and a room was secured for the night, Dean walked around to the passenger side of the car and yanked the door open. Sam, who was still asleep, just tumbled out onto the dusty ground, instantly waking up and looking around. "What the hell?" He grumbled out, shooting to his feet as Dean rounded the back of the car to pull his duffel out of the trunk.

"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty." He grinned at his brother, displaying the smuggest grin he could muster up. In a way, things were starting to look up. He had his car back, they were on a hunt. What more did he really need to make himself happy? Though, as soon as that question displayed itself in his mind, he knew the answer and regretted even asking.

Sam just shook his head as he waited for Dean to get out of the way so he could grab his own bed. But before his brother could get too far, he slapped the back of his head, snickering to himself when the shorter man quickly began to cuss fluently under his breath. Things definitely looked like they were starting to return back to normal. Too bad neither man believed that things would ever be normal again.

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Chance rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat in her living room, her eyes no longer being able to focus on the work in front of her. She was back at home, having left Bobby's after the boys left for the hunt in Montana. She needed to get back to work, or at least that was what she had told Bobby, and before she knew it, she was stepping foot back on familiar territory. But for some reason, her head and heart just wasn't in it. She had never really liked her job, but once Dean had walked out of her life, she didn't really see the point in hunting anymore. Bobby had stopped hunting when she was around fifteen or sixteen, citing that he wanted to give her as normal of a life as possible since he'd become her legal guardian. Her past, everything that had happened in her life, came back in one big dizzying blur. Putting her head in her hands, she sighed quietly and leaned back against the couch, letting herself try to figure out just what was going on and why she couldn't put herself back into the life she'd been leading for the past two years.

But her thoughts were shortlived when her cell phone began to ring annoyingly from it's place on the table beside the couch. She just shook her head and reached over, slapping her hand over the little, silver device before she flipped it open and put it to her ear. "Yeah?" She called out flatly, having no real energy to have checked the Caller ID. Her eyes instantly rolled when she heard the voice of one of her co-workers, a woman she couldn't stand, but put up with anyway. Claudia, the woman that had seemed to latch onto Chance from the moment she'd started working, had noticed that she'd been out for about a week and wasted no time jumping head-first into a round of questioning that Chance honestly wasn't wanting to answer. What did it matter that she'd disappeared for a while? She had learned a long time ago that any sympathy given to her wasn't always heart-felt and sincere. Unless it was coming from certain people. But only one person in her life knew the truth.

"But Chance, you haven't been at work in a week. Are you sure that you're okay?" Too bad Claudia's voice was coming in loud and clear. That shot the first thought Chance had at ending the conversation all to hell. But the more she stayed on the phone, the more the headache she'd been suffering from all day, became unbareable. Continuing to wince, she just ignored everything that the woman said, letting an abrupt greeting pass her lips before she slapped the phone shut. Tossing it onto the couch, she just sighed and turned, laying her head against the arm rest that was not far away. But the silence didn't last too long before her phone began to ring yet again. Snatching it up, she didn't even bother to glance at the Caller ID. "What?!"

"Wow, what a greeting." Chance couldn't help but blink in surprise when she heard the voice on the other end. Pulling the phone away long enough to see the number, she instantly recognized it and replaced the phone to her ear. "Whatcha need Dean?"

Truth be told, Dean had been agonizing over calling her for days. They had just gotten through with the job in Montana, one that had throughoughly fucked up his head. And somehow, by some weird twist of fate, they had ended up in the place he vaguely remembered Bobby telling him was her location. Clearing his throat lightly, he just looked out ahead of him and leaned back against the trunk of the Impala. Why he had decided to go outside to call her, was beyond him. "I uh...I just wanted to let you know that Sam wanted to come visit Mom's grave."

Almost as soon as she heard those words, Chance stopped thinking about the headache that was making her eyes want to cross and focused solely on his voice. Something wasn't right, she could feel it in every bone of her body. "What's going on, babe?" She asked softly, her voice only dipping into that tone around him. It had been a very long time since she'd also used that nickname. It was a term that had only ever been reserved for him. No one else. Not even the man that had put the ring on her finger.

He frowned almost instantly, dropping his head slightly. He could always count on her to know just when something was wrong, and when he needed her the most. Even if he had never been willing to admit it to her. She just had a way of knowing. "I'm not really sure. I guess...this place weirds me out." He mumbled out then straightened up and cleared his throat. "So Bobby told me that you relocated. I think we ended up in the same town."

That sentence forced Chance to sit up and sling her legs off the edge of her couch. "I think we are. What hotel are you staying at?" When he told her the name, she mentally figured out where he was and nodded to herself. He and Sam weren't two minutes away from her apartment. After telling him that, and the name of her apartment building, he mumbled out that he would see her soon and clicked the phone off. Staring at it for a few seconds, she just shook her head and tossed her own phone aside. She climbed to her feet and looked around at the small mess cluttering up her living room. Setting into action, she got it cleaned up relatively quickly, but before she had the opportunity to change into actual clothes, a knock sounded at her front door.

Dean shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he waited for Chance to open the door. He probably should have checked first to see if she was alone or not, but he needed to see her. In a way, it was the only vice he allowed himself. In his way of thinking, needing Sam was no big deal. They were brothers, after all. But Chance had grown up in almost the same situation that they had, so it was almost as if they were all family. He lifted his head when the front door opened and she appeared. Her body was clad in only a tight tank top and a pair of boxers that looked vaguely familiar. Swallowing hard, he waved slightly then gestured into the apartment. "Can I...is this a bad time?"

Chance, reeling from the surprise of seeing him outside her home, shook her head quickly and stepped aside as she waved him inside. "Nah, just lemme change clothes?"

He stepped inside and looked around the apartment before his eyes fell on her. Shaking his head, he shrugged then pulled off his jacket. "You don't have to. I've seen you in less." Almost automatically, color seeped into her cheeks as she shut the door behind him. Only he could make her blush and get away with it. Taking his jacket from him, she set it down and gestured at the couch as she took a step toward the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

Not believing that this was the place she lived in, he looked over at her and nodded slightly before his eyes flickered to what he could see of the fridge. "Beer if you got it."

She couldn't help but smile over her shoulder at him then leaned into the open fridge and pulled out two bottles. "Duh." She joked, popping the tops off the bottles before she walked over and handed one to him. For as long as they'd been legal enough to drink, beer was always needed. That was just the drink of choice for all the Winchester boys. Even John and after a while, it had become habit for beer to be in whatever house she was calling her residence.

Dean just chuckled and grinned as he took the drink from her then carefully went to sit down on her couch. Chance, watching him carefully, noticed how uneasy he really was and curled up on the couch, facing him as she took a sip of her beer. Once the liquid had slid down her throat, she raised an eyebrow at him slightly. "Okay, talk to me. What's got your boxers in a bind?" She hadn't meant for her words to come out that harsh, but then again, she had never really been able to be serious with Dean unless the topic of conversation was hunting, or hunting-related.

Shaking his head slightly, he turned his head to look at her then let out a low breath as he brought the beer up to his lips. He took a healthy drink then looked down at the beer as he slowly twirled it around against the palms of his hands. "I just don't get why Sam wanted to come visit Mom's grave. There's no body, no one is in the ground underneath her headstone. What's the point?"

Chance's heart literally began to ache when they began to talk about his mother. She easily remembered how sore the subject was for him, just as the subject of her own family was hard for her to talk about. Clearing her throat lightly, she leaned over and set her beer down before she resituated herself on the couch, unconsciously moving a little closer to him. "Dean...it's more about closure than anything. Your mom deserved a place where people can go and feel like they can connect with her."

He just sighed and leaned back on the couch, putting his own beer aside before he finally looked at her for longer than a few fleeting moments. And as he looked at her, studying her facial expressions and the way her body was moving with what she said, he realized just how much she had grown up in their time apart. He'd always thought she was a beautiful girl, but for some reason...he was seeing her in a whole new light. But his personality was kicking in and forcing him to not think about it. "How do you do it?" He mumbled out, not being able to stop the thoughts running through his head of everything she had gone through. The Winchester family had gone through hell, sure. But Dean still had Sam to depend on, to his link to the family they had been. But Chance, from the looks of things, had no one. Her mother had died just three weeks before Mary had died, in the exact same way. Trapped to the ceiling by a demon that had destroyed more families than Dean wanted to think about. Her father hadn't been able to deal with the grief and just two years after the death of her mother, Chance lost her father. But in the span of that time, Mitchell Adams had begun to follow the same path that John had with his boys in tow. Bobby had come into the picture around that time, and once Mitchell had passed away, he ended up taking custody of Chance. She didn't have any biological family to take care of her, so it had been sheer luck that someone had been willing to take care of her. From that moment on, she had become like part of the family, always by Bobby's side whenever John and the boys needed guidance.

Blowing out a low breath, Chance stayed silent as thoughts overtook her. There were times when she honestly didn't know how to deal with the way her life had turned out. She couldn't remember either one of her parents, and that hurt worse than actually losing them. She had lost so much and there was a part of her that no longer wanted to try. What was the point of keeping a person in her life if it always ended the same way? "Honestly...some days, I'm not sure." She admitted quietly, toying with the ring that she had yet to actually take off. She hadn't been able to reach that point yet, to take it off and close the chapter in her life. "I guess, with my parents, I was too young to really understand what was going on. And I think of Bobby as my father, but it still hurts to not have a family. Especially...when I got engaged."

Hearing those words felt like a thousand knives cutting Dean all across his body, but yet he couldn't really understand why. The ring had been a dead giveaway that she had promised to spend the rest of her life with someone. But hearing the words finally pushed him into the thought he'd been avoiding since she had walked up the day he'd taken his anger out on the Impala. He'd lost her in a way. He had lost her to someone who honestly had no idea what all she had seen and done in her life. "I...don't really know what to say."

Chance instantly started to shake her head as she quickly climbed to her feet and started to move. "There's nothing to say." Her voice was still quiet, and she loathed that. He still had direct access into the parts of her that she didn't want him to see. He could still read her like an open book and she still couldn't put up any kind of defenses against him. "He...died. Shortly after John disappeared."

Dean was on his feet at that statement. The timing sounded suspicous, but he couldn't ignore the small surge of relief that was trying to flood through him. Grabbing her arm lightly, he carefully turned her around to face him. "C...what happened? How'd he die?"

She surprisingly didn't fight him when he pulled her around to face him. He was the only one that could make her face reality and not get any shit for it. Anyone else and she would have fought them. Her shoulders instantly began to slump as she looked up at him. "I don't know all of the details. I was at work when it happen. When I came home...back here..." Gesturing around, she trailed off then instantly started to shake her head. Turning away from him, both hands moved up to cover her face before sliding into her hair. "I don't want to do this right now." She replied, her voice a little stronger than a few seconds before. "I refuse to talk about him and the fact that I lost another person in my life."

Dean didn't know what to say or do when she took this turn in her personality. There was no talking to her whenever her mind was made up about something. People liked to joke that it was a personality trait they both shared. A stubbornness that that made them even more alike than they wanted to admit. "Chance, you can't run away from this." He replied quietly, forcing his curiosity to not get the better of him. He had to know if the demon had taken her fiance the way he had taken Jess. "You gotta deal with this, baby."

Chance instantly started to shake her head as she struggled out of his grip. Wiping her face in a few, swift movements, she let her hands drop to her sides as she looked at him, her face naked of any kind of defence or barrier. "Why? Why should I admit that I lost yet another person I loved? And why the hell do I need to figure out why it keeps happening?" The words were flying past her lips before she had so much as a second chance of stopping them. And she was saying them to a person she considered to be lost to her. The job came first, it always had. Dean had always been much more invested in it than Sam had, but that was one of two likenesses the two held.

His throat contricted slightly as he watched her react in anger. This wasn't what he had wanted to happen. It was the last thing, in fact. His intention hadn't been to come over here and send her spiraling into a dark place. But yet, there they were; talking about things that neither one of them wanted to deal with. "Because you have to!" He yelled out before he could stop himself. Anger had been brewing under the surface for some time, and he couldn't hold it back any longer. Not in front of one of the only people in his life that he had been able to be completely candid around. "No one knows why things happen! Why did my father have to die? Why did he think that my life was a hell of a lot more important than his was?! None of it's fair, but it's life, Chance."

"But how many people do I have to lose before it's enough? Or better yet, before it's my turn?! Answer me that, Dean. Why do I always have to stand here and just accept the fact that people leave? My parents left, John left, you..." Her throat tightened slightly as she quickly began to angle her body away from him. "You left. And then Eric. I'm done watching people leave. I refuse to do it." A few beats of silence passed before Chance slowly turned her head to look at him again. Shaking her head slightly, she walked over to the door and opened it, her hand shaking against the knob while her other hand flattened over her forehead. "I...I just wanna be alone right now. I have to work in the morning." It was a lie, and they both knew it. There was no way in hell that she was going to be able to work after everything that had just happened. But she couldn't bring herself to face him right then. She had confessed too much that she had promised would never hit his ears.

Dean's shoulders dropped as he nodded his head and snatched up his jacket. He had been expecting this part, and she didn't disappoint. Pulling the jacket on, he just walked past her, not saying a word before he got out into the hallway. "I guess...I'll call you before we leave town. Maybe you'll wanna see Sam or something." And then just like that, he was gone. Chance stood at the door for what felt like an hour, but was actually only a few moments, leaning her head against the side of the door, eyes shut tightly as her head began to pound. What had her life come to that she couldn't make sense out of anything? Even the smallest of gestures were like some giant complex, situation to her. Something wasn't right, but she had a feeling that she hadn't seen the last of Dean Winchester.


	3. Chapter 3

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

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**Chapter Three:**

Dean quickly ran a hand through his hair as he stood outside of an apartment he'd just had to break into. It turned out that a lead he had decided to chase, against Sam's advice, had become an actual hunt. Only now, he wasn't really sure of what to do. He normally felt better when he was hunting, chasing one lead after another, but this? It almost felt like he was escaping from something and that was a feeling that he definitely didn't like. Looking up when he heard a sudden sound, his eyes moved back to the ground when he noticed who was walking up to him.

Chance had gotten a call from Sam only hours before, explaining that he was worried about his brother and couldn't talk any kind of sense into him. That seemed to be the Winchester motto as of late. No one really knew how to talk to Dean or make him see what was going on. So after agonizing for at least an hour, she had decided to go out and put her own hunting skills to use. A little rusty, but she had managed to track him down. She even looked the part of a hunter; clad in boots, jeans and a plain baseball-jersey style shirt. Her hair was pulled off her face in a messy ponytail that Dean had honestly missed seeing. "So whatcha hunting this time?" She drawled out, stopping maybe half a foot from where he was leaning against the Impala.

He looked up at her again and shrugged unevenly as he rose to his full height and stepped up onto the curb, facing her. "Just noticed a patch of dead ground in the cemetary. I'm trying to figure out what caused it."

"And you think this girl, this...Angela chick is behind it?" She asked carefully, raising an eyebrow slightly as she studied him. Yet again, she could tell that something was wrong with him, but she didn't press on it. The last thing in the world either one of them seemed to need was a repeat of the night before.

Dean's eyes flew up to meet hers when he heard her question. How the hell had she known and how much had Sam told her? Those were the top questions brewing in his mind, but he knew how she had been able to find him. She was probably one of the best females hunters he had ever seen in action. And if he'd been asked close to three months before, he would have told anyone willing to listen that it had been a damn shame when she had decided to give it all up for a normal life. "Yeah...I do." He blurted out casually, offering up no more information than that. He didn't know what was going through her head, which buttons should or shouldn't be pushed. But to be on the safe side, he wasn't about to start taking any chances.

She just nodded her head slightly as she looked down at her scuffed boots, shoes that she hadn't worn in a very long time. Glancing back at him again, she idly scratched the back of her neck and took a step back. "Well then, have fun with that. Hopefully you get to kill something too." She joked lamely, knowing nothing else to say to him right then. He was too closed off for her to reach and part of her wanted to kick the hell out of him for that. But it was her fault that he was suddenly so closed off with her. She'd done serious damage the night before, and it was evident in the way they were acting around each other. One lesson she had learned the hard way was that there was never going back. Ever.

Dean just shook his head as he turned to get back into the Impala. He had a few more things that he wanted to check on, but seeing her there, he didn't really want to do this without her help. He'd missed working with her, he just didn't really know how to ask her for help. That had always hindered him with other people in the past, but it had only become an issue with her after last night. "Yeah, I guess." He grumbled out, focusing on the car before he yanked the door open and went to slide in behind the wheel.

"Dean, wait." She blurted out before she could stop herself. Walking over to the driver's side once he was in the car, she leaned against the open window frame and stared at him blankly. "If you're dealing with a jilted chick, you could probably use some help. I'd hate to hear about you getting your ass handed to you cause you still don't know how to deal with women."

Opening his mouth to say something, he closed it a few times; knowing that it was no use. She was already walking around the car and then in the passenger seat. Where Sam usually sat on hunts. Slinging one leg over the other, she drapped an arm over the back of the seat and looked at him before gesturing at the road ahead of her. "You might wanna go that way."

Shaking his head at her tenacity, he just threw the car into gear and pulled away from the apartment where the girl had been living. Chance was involved in this now and Dean wasn't even about to start fighting her on it. Truth be told, she was right. He could use her help when it came to dealing with this girl. That was just something he refused to admit because he honestly didn't think they were ready for yet another Earth-shattering revelation.

* * *

It had been close to two hours since Chance had joined in on the search for what was going on with the girl that was supposed to be dead, but had turned a large, circular patch of ground dark. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she sighed and leaned back against the headboard she had settled in front of. Her mind was running in circles and she was honestly about ready to pull her hair out. She had lost the ponytail a long time ago, her hair now falling in front of her face whenever she leaned over to look at the information that Dean had gathered from the Internet. Glancing over at him, she quickly climbed off the bed to see what he was looking at. "What'd you find?" She asked quietly, ignoring the look Sam was giving her for how she was leaned over his brother.

Dean shrugged and leaned back in the chair as he let his hands fall onto the armrests. "Another dead end. If her father didn't bring her back, then who the hell did?" That caused Chance's eyes to roll as she straightened up then plopped down in Dean's lap, not even giving him a chance to get out of the way. "Guys, I swear." She mumbled out, typing a few things in a new browser. "Just because her father didn't do it, doesn't mean that you're out of options. A girl always has people around her that she's oblivous to."

Sam's eyebrow quirked slightly at that statement. He wasn't really sure if she was talking about herself, or Angela. But from where he was sitting, that string of words could pertain to either girl. More the girl sitting in his brother's lap than the girl they were trying to track down. But only because he knew more about Chance than Angela. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

That comment got sharp looks from both Chance and Dean, but Dean's lingered a little longer than hers did. Returning her gaze to the computer, she gave a quiet 'aha' then climbed off Dean's lap to check something out.

"What'd you find out, Blondie." Dean asked before he could stop himself. And he was fully prepared for the dirty look that came from the young woman, but not the slap upside his head as she walked past him. "You said the girl had a best friend, right?" When they both nodded, she grinned and nodded slowly, hooking her thumbs into the back pockets of her jeans. "Is the best friend a guy?" Again, they both nodded and her smile grew a little more as she turned and plopped back on the bed. "Then you gotta check him out. "If anyone knows things about her that no one else would, it'd be that guy. Girls tell their best friends everything."

Dean frowned slightly as he watched her pull her feet up onto the bed, getting comfortable as she closed her eyes. He wasn't really sure how to take her statement, mainly because he'd never known Chance to have a best friend. Like them, she had always been sort of a loner. But then again, she was a girl after all. If any of them were close enough to the...whatever she was, Chance had the easiest access to figuring her out. "All right." Dean finally replied after a few beats of silence, slapping the journal he'd been looking in shut and tossed it onto the table. "Let's see what we can find out."

* * *

Chance winced slightly as Dean climbed out of the grave that Angela had been buried in almost a week before. The girl had seriously put the three of them through the ringer, not wanting to die for a second time. She had honestly forgotten just how evil and stubborn demons could be. Looking up when Sam came out of the trees to join them, her eyes quickly flickered onto his right hand, which had been pushed through the opening below the handle of the shovel they'd used to redig the grave. "You okay?" She called out, ignoring how close Dean had ended up beside her.

Sam just nodded then winced when he tried to move his hand. "I think the bitch broke my wrist." He winced yet again when he pulled the shovel off his shoulder and pushed it into the ground at his feet. Chance just swallowed back a snicker and glanced over at Dean before she looked down at the girl in the grave. A girl that'd had her entire life ahead of her. But it had all been taken away by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, putting her trust in someone that had honestly not deserved it. This was probably one of the only hunts that had hit so close to home, and she was realizing even more just how much she had changed. Clearing her throat lightly, she took a step back and gestured behind her. The graveyard wasn't too far away from her apartment and she had a stop she wanted to make. "I guess...this is where we part ways again."

Two sets of eyes instantly glued onto her at her words and she wanted to sink into the ground right then and there. She'd definitely said something that didn't sit well with either one of them, but what was the use in dancing around the obvious? Her life was too different from their's now, she was too different. But the more she tried to stay distanced from them, the more she felt them pulling her back in. It was a weird sort of Catch-22 that she couldn't break. Before Dean could say anything, Sam had beaten him to it. "Not unless you have something keeping you here." He didn't know the whole story, but he wasn't blind. He could easily see the looks that were exchanged between Chance and his brother. Plus he could freely admit that he had missed having her around. They were closer in age than she was to Dean, and they were almost in the exact same situation, though he had yet to actually ask if anything major had changed in her life. But he just had a feeling that it had.

Swallowing thickly, Chance tucked hair behind both of her ears before she lightly slapped her hands against the thighs of her jeans. "I have a life here." She blurted out hollowly, at a loss of anything else to really say. She wasn't a hundred percent sure why she was fighting so much, or why she couldn't just accept them coming back into her life. She hated the existance she had created for herself, especially after the headaches had begun. They had started up shortly before Eric's freak accident, along with dreams that could only really be considered vivid nightmares. And almost always, about the two guys standing in front of her. But she had no idea if they were just that, nightmares, or if they were something more. She had never called them to see what was going on. She just knew that they were still on the path they had all taken in their younger years. They were deadset on finding the demon, and she had to wonder if they ever would.

Deciding not to say anything, she just ducked her head and started to walk away from Angela's grave. The more she tried not to think about it, the more it became harder. Her entire family was buried here, even Eric. This was where the three, most important people in her life had ended up. And maybe that was why she was fighting the urge to blend back into their lives. Sure, she felt like Dean had been lost to her, but at least he was still alive. She didn't know what all was going on, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was cursed. That anyone who came into her life bearing a massive role, wouldn't last very long. Chance didn't really concentrate on where she was going, but she knew where her feet were leading her to. So when she looked up and saw her mother's gravestone in front of her, she wasn't surprised. The only thing that had surprised her were the quiet footsteps coming up behind her.

Sam wasn't really sure what had prompted him to follow her, but he couldn't ignore the fact that there was something seriously wrong. So it had pushed him into moving, following her to where her parents were buried. Which, coincidentally, wasn't far from where his own mother's headstone had been placed. "Y'know, you and Dean still fight as much now, as you did when we were younger."

Chance couldn't help the small snicker that passed her lips at his statement. That was a running theme; her constantly butting heads with the older Winchester. But she grew serious again, crossing her arms over her chest and gestured her elbow back toward him. "You, uh, you should go get your wrist checked out."

He just shook his head and pulled her around to face him with his good hand. "Chance, I'm more worried about you than my arm right now. So just talk to me. What's with the brick wall you have going around yourself?"

She swore mentally and looked away, shuffling her feet against the grass so hard that she was sure little blades were kicking up into the wind. "Ask Dean. He should tell you everything." She mumbled out, still not looking at him. But yet, she couldn't force herself to walk away. She couldn't walk away from either of them and there were times when she hated it.

"I'm not asking Dean, I'm asking you." Sam blurted out, a true Winchester trait flowing out through his voice. She looked sharply up at him then let her arms drop to her sides. "Chance, you gotta talk to me, okay? Our pasts are way too damn similar for me to just wonder what's going on with you now. And that ring is definitely way too noticable."

A low cuss word filtered past her lips as she shoved her left hand into the pocket of her jeans. "Can we just...drop it okay? Nothing is wrong, nothing is going on. I'm fine!" She stated through her teeth, her jaw tightening with the anger starting to flow through her again. "And why...why should I tell either one of you anything?" She asked bluntly, her eyes meeting his yet again. "Over two years. It's been over two years, Sam. No word from any of you. Not that I ever expected John to get in contact with me. But...damn." She sighed and took a step back, looking over in the direction of where they had left Dean. "You should have seen the look on Bobby's face when I showed up shortly after Eric died." She mumbled out, not being able to stop the words from passing her lips. She laughed bitterly then dropped her head. "I started getting these crazy headaches, and I couldn't make them go away." She looked up at him again, shoving her other hand into the pocket of her jeans. "Then I started dreaming about you and Dean. About the Demon coming after your girlfriend...the woman and kids that moved into your old house. Hell, I was even dreaming about a kid in Michigan that was getting beat on by his father and uncle. I dreamed it." She was practically breathing the words now, anger interlacing through every single word. "I..." She trailed off and pushed a hand over her face before forcing it back into her pocket. "I dreamed about Dean getting a bullet through the head, but I couldn't do anything. I didn't know what to do! How the hell was I supposed to know what it all meant? Why I was dreaming about you and your brother, and...hell, even your father. None of you were there when I needed you. Not even a phone call." She blew out a low breath and took yet another step away from him. "I needed you then. Both of you. And that was a mistake. I learned my lesson, Sam. I don't trust anyone anymore. It hurts too much." She stated clearly, shaking her head slightly before she turned to walk away.

All Sam could do was stand there and watch her walk away. Their mothers had died in almost the exact same way, sure, but a small part of him hoped that she had escaped the kind of hell that he was currently going through. The searing headaches, having visions while awake. There were times when it was more than too much, and now he was learning that she was what was considered a 'special child'. It was starting to click in his head and deep, in the pit of his stomach, he knew that she wasn't safe on her own. Judging by the way she had been talking, she had no idea what was going on, and ignorance was the worst kind of trap. She had no one to depend on, he knew her well enough to know that for a fact. But instead of chasing after her, he just trekked back to the Impala, knowing that Chance was probably going to try and walk home.

Dean straightened up when he saw his brother walk back over, Chance nowhere in sight. "Where'd she go?" He asked, holding his arms out slightly as the question passed his lips. He knew his brother had chosen to go after her, but he had no idea about what had gone on after that.

Sam sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, carefully tucking his injured hand under his good arm. "Dean, we gotta figure out a way to make her come with us." He blurted out before he could stop himself. Chance would probably beat his ass for his confession to Dean but he didn't care. She would be alive and that was what mattered most to the girl he considered like a sister.

Blinking in surprise, he waved his hands slightly, trying to figure out what the hell had gone on in the few, short minutes his brother had been gone. "Whoa. Wait. Where is this coming from? You heard her. She doesn't want us in her life anymore, Sam."

"So?" He shot back, his voice raising slightly in aggitation. "Dean, she's in danger, okay? She has no idea what's going on with her or what kind of attention that's going to attract." The words were rushing from his brain to his lips before he could even think about how they were sounding to his older brother. But as soon as Sam's words hit his ears, things started to click in his head. "You mean she's got the same stuff going on that you did? The freaky, psychic abilities?" When Sam nodded, Dean's face paled considerably. Turning, he wrenched the driver's side door open and climbed in behind the wheel. "Get in, we're going to get her." If she was in the same boat as Sam, then what John had told him minutes before he died...pertained to Chance as well.


	4. Chapter 4

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Four:**

Chance had managed to get back to her apartment and start packing, but was sidelined when yet another headache began to start. Thankfully, it wasn't linked with an impending dream, it had to do with the conversation she'd just had with Sam. They had come barging into her life, tearing it upside down and she had yet to let herself deciper it all. She was glad that they were back in her life, but she couldn't let herself accept it. History repeated itself, that much she knew for a fact and she didn't think she could stand it if that same history led to the downfall of the remaining Winchester boys. Hearing a knock at her door, she stalked over and wrenched it open, wincing when she saw not only Dean, but Sam at his side. "I don't feel like chatting, so just...disappear, please?" By the time she had said the word 'please', her voice had dropped to a whisper due to the headache that was taking over her senses, almost making her want to double over in pain. The headaches, she could deal with. The ajoining nausea? Not so much.

Ignoring her, Dean slipped passed her and pulled her further into the apartment, Sam bringing up the rear as he closed then locked the door behind him. Once the blonde was on the couch, Dean at her side, he looked up at his brother, who had taken the stance of kneeling in front of her. "You're coming with us. No way are we disappearing. You aren't safe."

She looked up at Sam's words, not being able to bite back the bitter laugh that filled the air. "I'm always in danger, what makes now any different?" They had an inate ability to confuse the hell out of her, and she wanted to kick both of them for that still holding true. "Quit dancing around it." She blurted out, shifting her eyes from Sam to Dean then back again. "Tell me what the hell is going on or I'm not going anywhere with either one of you."

Dean couldn't help but sigh as he leaned back against the couch slightly. But his body quickly snapped back to attention, not being able to speak before his brother beat him to it. "Eric...your fiance, when he died, he was trapped to the ceiling wasn't he?"

Chance quickly looked up at him, shaking her head wildly before she put her face in her hands, bracing her elbows on her knees. "No." She exclaimed, not wanting to talk about it. But she knew the Winchesters well enough to know that they weren't going to let this drop. Sighing quietly, she let her hands drop from her head, rubbing her palms together. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to lift her head. It suddenly felt like it weighed a ton and any movement of any kind hurt like hell. "The night I found him...I had to work late. I called and told him, he said he was just going to bum around the apartment and wait for me." She started, her voice barely above a whisper. Swallowing thickly, she ran her hands over her face before shoving them up into her hair and leaned back against the couch. Focusing on the wall behind Sam, she sighed yet again and forced herself to continue on. "I came back...here and called out for him, but got no answer. I just figured that he'd changed his mind and gone out with some of his buddies. Normal thing, I didn't question it." She shrugged unevenly then looked down at her hands, twisting her left ring finger in a way that was sure to snap the bone. "I walked into the bedroom and all I saw was blood." She winced slightly when her voice cracked and shook her head slightly as memories of that night began to flood her mind. "His throat was slashed and he was dead. It looked like someone had celebrated or something. His blood was everywhere."

Dean's heart was sufficently in his throat as he listened to her recount how her fiance had died. It didn't seem to fit the pattern, or at least, the pattern he knew The Demon to keep. Their mothers and Jess had been on the ceiling, but Eric? It sounded like he had been murdered in his own bed. Turning his head, he couldn't help but glance down the hallway. And before he knew it, he was on his feet, walking into the room he assumed was the one Eric had been killed in. Flipping on the light, he winced at what he saw. The entire room looked immaculate, yet there was no furniture in sight. Nothing was in this room and he couldn't really blame Chance for that. No way would he want to stay in a room where someone had practically been slaughtered.

Chance, having seen where Dean had ended up, climbed off the couch and slowly came up behind him, her hands once again shoved into the pockets of the jeans. "There was sulphur on the window, I'm guessing that's how the demon got in and out." She mumbled out, her eyes glued to the walls around them. He looked over at her, turning slightly to give her better access into the room. "Was he in bed?" She just nodded at his question then reached up and scratched the back of her neck. Studying the room for a few more minutes, she turned and looked up at him, leaning against the doorframe. "What does all this mean, Dean? The timing scares the hell out of me and if Bobby knows anything, he's telling me nothing."

Dean's throat tightened as he looked at her, noticing the genuine look of worry on her features. "I honestly don't know." He lied, hating that it was becoming like a reflex to her in this situation. But all he could think about was getting her out of the apartment on the road with him. Once that happened, maybe he could summon up the courage to tell her everything he knew. Everything his father had told him before he died. "Just...come with us, Chance. This is major, a hell of a lot stronger than you are alone. And Sam and I...we're fully prepared to camp out here if we have to." He challenged, knowing that she wouldn't want that. She was probably the only person left on the planet that knew how important the job was. Even with everything going through his head, and the death of his father, the war that was brewing was still the top priority.

She shook her head slightly at his words, which he interpreted as her continuing to fight him. But before he could say anything, her voice was hitting his ears again. "I'll go." She stated honestly, then looked up at him. "But the second I get in the way, the second you or Sam get hurt because of me, I'm disappearing and you won't be able to find me."

"Deal. Now go get packed. We gotta get on the road." He replied, not letting himself feel any kind of elation at winning. This wasn't the way he wanted her back in his life. He didn't want her to have to depend on him just because she had no idea what was happening to her, or why she had been targeted for this kind of life. There were very few people in his life that he had missed, but she was nearly at the top of the list. He stayed where he was as she slipped past him to walk into the room almost right next to him. Turning around, he watched as she turned on the light and resumed packing the bag she was going to use to disappear.

Sam, figuring that he had given his brother enough time to talk some sense into Chance, came down the hallway and leaned against the doorway, Dean now right inside the doorway. She could feel their eyes on her as she moved and stopped, turning to look at both of them. "I can't pack with you two watching me like a pair of hawks! I promise, I'm packing like a good girl." She huffed then motioned for them to leave the room. Dean just held his hands up in a surrendering move and pushed Sam down the hallway, back into the living room. If letting her leave his sight for a few minutes meant that she was getting in the car with them, then he'd oblige her. He'd just have to suck it up and resist the urge to keep her under lock and key.

* * *

Chance frowned as she sat in the back of the Impala, trying her best to get comfortable. Too bad it wasn't happening and she was starting to curse the car that Dean loved so much. Sam was asleep in the front, while he was behind the wheel. Giving up, she scooted up the seat and dropped her arms over the back of the bench seat, intentionally closing space so that she didn't have to speak loud enough to risk waking Sam up. "How much longer are you going to pretend you're not tired?"

Dean turned his head slightly when he heard her voice, almost swearing that she had been asleep. Shrugging unevenly, he glanced at a passing street sign before letting his eyes flicker back over onto her. "Not sure, why? Can't get comfortable?"

"Hell no. Have you ever tried to sleep in your back seat?" She blurted out, then quickly waved her hands, ducking her head in the process. "Wait! Don't answer that." She blurted out then moved to lean back against the seat. "I so do not wanna know how many girls you tried to bang back here."

"Hey!" He shot out, shooting her the best wounded look he could muster up while keeping the Impala in its lane. "I'm not that sleezy, thanks."

She just snickered and shrugged unevenly as she turned her head to look out the window. "I wouldn't know." She shot back, shooting him a cute grin that she was sure he would be able to see in the rearview mirror.

Grumbling under his breath, he just flicked the turn signal on, spotting a motel not far off the road. She had him distracted now and there was no way he could continue to drive with her taking sexual jabs at him in the backseat. She had tendencies to be evil, but they were even more apparent with the lapse of time. Though, the more time he spent around her, the harder it was for him to ignore the temptations she brought out in him. Sex was the last thing on his mind with the recent death of his father, but that didn't stop his thoughts from going into a hideously dirty place with reguard to her. There had always been sexual tension between them, but now it was finally obvious to him.

Looking out the windshield when he started to pull off the road, she couldn't help but snicker when she realized what was going on. Throwing her hands up slightly, she just grinned yet again and started boasting in a quiet, sing-song voice. "I win."

"Shut up." Dean mumbled as he parked the car and killed the engine. "Get your ass out and go with me to get rooms."

Climbing out of the car, Chance regained her footing and instantly stuck her tongue out at him as she closed the car door behind her. "Rooms? Since when do you get rooms?" She knew his methods. The Winchesters only got one room and whoever got the beds, got the beds.

"Because you're here and I don't really feel like sharing a bed with Sammy." He shot back, falling into step behind her as they walked into the small, dingy lobby. Looking over, he walked up to the counter, Chance beating him at ringing the bell. Shaking his head at her, she just grinned and leaned against the counter, forcing Dean to look away quickly. The shirt she wore under her jacket was low cut and with the way she was leaning, plenty of cleavage was appearing against the shirt. He had never known a girl like Chance, a girl that was probably completely unaware of how much attention her body commanded.

A short, gray-haired guy ambled up to the counter, straightening up considerably when he saw Chance. "What can I do for you, Little Lady?" He grinned, practically imagining her naked. Dean noticed and couldn't help but stare at the guy in blatant disgust. What the hell? He could honestly see why he had been overlooked but the look on the old bastard's face made him want to vault over the counter. Instead he controlled himself and cleared his throat lightly. Chance, smiling lightly, straightened up and lightly slapped her hands on the counter. She had noticed the guy snapping to attention and that made her skin want to crawl right off her body. Figuring she could torment the hell out of Dean and get a room at the same time, she curled an arm around Dean's waist, purposely flattening her hand against his ass. "My guy here and I need a room. Two beds, yknow, just in case he pisses me off." She was laying it on thick, complete with a wink, which threw the old guy into such a tizzy that Dean was sure he was gonna go into cardiac arrest. The room was quickly rung out, with a nice little discount, along with two keys handed over without so much as a hint of a security depost. Snatching up the keys, Chance grinned and winked at the guy yet again, before she leaned up and kissed Dean's cheek. "Meetcha outside, handsome." She was so close to laughter that she had to get out of the lobby as fast as humanly possible.

Dean just shook his head as he finished up the paperwork, handing over one of many credit cards. He ignored the dirty comments flowing from the man behind the counter. Waving slightly at the old guy, he picked up his card and shoved it back into his wallet as he walked outside. Once he was out there, Chance errupted in laughter, practically sprayed out over the back of the Impala. "Have you lost your mind?!" Dean blurted out before he could think, wondering what in the hell was going through her mind.

Straightening up, she tried to swallow back as many snickers as possible, but with no avail. "Hey, it got us a discount, didn't it?" She asked, her words barely audible due to her quieted laughter. "I had to do it, I'm sorry." She breathed, regaining her footing enough to step aside so he could get into the trunk and retreive bags.

"You are not right." He mumbled through clenched teeth, tossing her bag at her before he grabbed his and Sam's then slammed the trunk down, sure it would wake up the sleeping figure in the car.

"But yet you love me anyway." She sighed happily, grinning as she easily caught her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Walking over to the room that was their's, she managed to get the door unlocked and stepped inside. Her bag was tossed aside before she collapsed onto one of the beds. "Oh lumpy mattress! Where have you been all my life?!"

Sam, who was barely awake, had no damn idea what was going on and just shook his head as he walked further into the room and tossed his own bag aside. Going over to the other, vacant bed, he laid down, sprawling out before he was out like a light yet again. Dean was the last to enter the room, locking the door behind him. Noticing both figures on the bed, he just let his head drop back before he set his stuff down then did the standard rituals to the room to ensure safety. Once he was satisfied, he plopped down in a nearby chair and reached down to pull his boots off, not paying attention as Chance got up to start investigating the room. Her shoes were kicked off near the bed, which she didn't get too far from. Walking around, she sat down in front of him and curled her legs up underneath her. "Okay, how pissed off are you?"

Dean lifted his head to look up at her and shook his head slightly as he let a boot sail between them. "I'm not." He mumbled then stood up to pull his jacket and flannel shirt off.

Leaning back on the bed, she just shook her head slowly as she watched him then untucked her feet and pulled her socks off. Once they were out of the way, she fully stood up and pulled her jeans off, tossing them into a chair before her jacket and long-sleeve, practically sheer shirt joined them. Turning around, she pulled her hair out of the elastic that had been holding it up off her face and yanked back the covers on the bed.

Dean could hear movement behind him, turning around just in time to see her lean down to get the blankets untucked. Swallowing thickly at the lack of clothing on her body, he mentally started to swear when she climbed in beneath the sheets. Well, at least she had no problem getting comfortable enough to go to sleep. The boy shorts and tank top she had worn under her clothes fit her perfectly and thinking about it made him start to swear even more. Yanking his shirt off, he tossed it aside then stepped out of his jeans, leaving them on the floor. Turning to face the bed, he gestured for her to move over, relieved when she didn't fight him and moved over. They had shared a bed before, sure, but not since she had come back into his life with new revelations and changes. Once he was comfortable, he sighed and locked both arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He wouldn't let his eyes move back onto her, no matter what.

Chance had been forced to do a double take when Dean started to shed layers of clothing. He was more cut and toned than she had remembered and that pushed unwanted thoughts into her mind. Getting comfortable on her side, with her back facing him, she sighed and tucked her hands underneath the pillow. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes and get the sleep she'd been desperately trying to seek back in the car. Turning her head slightly, she glanced down at his chest before moving her eyes up to his face. "Thanks...for coming back." She whispered then moved back into her previous position. All before Dean even had a second to think about a response. Instead he just stayed silent, staring up at the ceiling until his eyes grew too heavy to keep open any longer.


	5. Chapter 5

_**AUTHOR' NOTE:**__ This is where Jo Harvelle gets introduced into the story. When I wrote this, I didn't really like her character all that much. But now, things have changed and I seriously miss Jo. No ill-feelings toward her so please, no comments about me 'bashing' the character. It's just how the story's progressed._

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Five:**

Sam couldn't help but smirk as he watched the scene in front of him. He must have been pretty out of it when they got to the hotel the night before, because no way had he seen this coming. Chance and Dean were still asleep, in the same bed. His brother's chest was bare, and with the way Chance was laying, he could barely see the tank top that was wound tightly around her upper body. Her head was on his chest, hair hiding Dean's shoulder from view. Her hand lay not far from where her head was, while his arm was, Sam guessed, wrapped around her waist. The entire thing made him want to laugh aloud. Especially with all the tension that seemed to hang in the air whenever they got within even an inch from each other. He could easily tell that his brother had a thing for the blonde they'd grown up with, the scene in front of him proving it even more. Taking a step back, he quickly kicked the mattress and resumed his previous stance, not being able to surpress a laugh when both people jerked away.

Chance, noticing where she was and how she was laying, quickly rolled over, her leg sliding off Dean's lower body as she hid her face in the pillow she was supposed to have been sleeping on. Keeping her face hidden, she resisted the urge to kick Dean when all he did was groggily ask what time it was.

"It's early, you guys need to get a move on. I know where we have to go next." Was all Sam said before he grabbed his bag and disappeared outside to let Dean and Chance get out of bed and get dressed without him watching.

Dean cleared his throat as he slowly started to regain consicousness. He honestly couldn't remember sleeping as well as he had the night before. He was also dimly aware that when he had laid down, there had been no hope of him falling asleep any time soon. Obviously something had changed since it was now hard as hell for him to wake up. Lifting his head, it immediately dropped back into the pillow when Chance pulled herself out of the bed, stretching before she went to grab her clothes. "Gee, you're talkative." He mumbled out as he finally sat up, leaning over the edge of the bed to grab his jeans.

Chance glanced over her shoulder when she heard his voice and shrugged unevenly. Reaching over, she grabbed the shirt he had been wearing the night before and tossed it at him. "Here, you're too damn distracting when you're shirtless."

Dean just blinked as his shirt landed on the bed, but before he could say anything, she already had her bag and was in the bathroom. Shaking his head slightly, he just climbed out of the bed, pulling on a fresh tee shirt and jeans before he focused on his socks and boots. If things hadn't been tense when they went to bed the night before, they were definitely tense now that Sam had busted them in a pretty compromising situation.

* * *

Chance was virtually silent as she sat in the backseat of the Impala. Shortly after they had all regrouped and got out of the motel, Sam began to get visions of a guy in Oklahoma. Dean had become a little fearful, especially when a dizzying headache settled into Chance's senses. But she didn't seem to be having any visions either so he wasn't really sure how their psychic thing worked. All he knew was that they needed to get back to Nebraska, and fast.

She was purposely staying silent as she watched the scenery fly by the window, her head resting against the frame of the car. Her legs were curled up underneath her, shoes abandoned on the floor. She had been feeling okay up until the visions started happening and pushed her back into reality. A small part of her, the part probably linked to her sanity, had her fooled into thinking that they were just on a roadtrip together. That she wasn't now in Dean's car because of some intense danger that prevented her from taking care of herself. Thinking about it all made her stomach churn and she couldn't hide the look of digust that crossed over her face.

Sam, glancing back, noticed the look on her face and raised an eyebrow slightly as he turned in his seat to look at her better. "Chance, you okay?"

She turned her face away from the window to look at him, her facial expression now completely blank and just nodded before looking back out the window.

He hated moments like this, when he had no idea what to say to the girl that he had grown up with. Before they had stepped into her life, she had no idea what had changed within her. She'd had no idea that she was now linked to the demon even more so than she had originally thought. The thing hadn't only taken her family, but had taken the rest of her life away from her too. Sam knew what that felt like, to have the person he wanted in his life, for the rest of his life, just snatched away. "It's gonna be okay, Chance."

Once again, her eyes rested on Sam, having expected him to say those words. But they hadn't passed his lips. It took her a second to realize that those simple little words had passed Dean's lips. She just slouched even further against the seat and looked back out the window. "Can you just...turn on the radio? I feel like drowning in music."

Dean's eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, getting a clear look at the woman in his backseat and shook his head mentally. But he did as she had asked, turning the radio on and pushing the volume up enough that she would be able to block everything else out. It was in moments like this, when the past came rushing back to him, that he knew they were only alike because they had been pushed into each other's lives.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence, only the radio could be heard through the interior of the Impala. Chance had fallen back to sleep, claiming that was the only way she could lessen the pain in her head. Sam had tried to drift off for a little while, but kept waking up when his mind started to play tricks on him. So by the time they reached the Roadhouse, Dean was in the passenger seat sleeping, while Sam was behind the wheel. Pulling into the gravel parking lot shook Chance out of her light sleep and she sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she looked around. She'd never seen this place before and wasn't really sure why they where here. "Where are we?" She asked groggily, barely noticing out of the corner of her eye that Dean was also waking up.

Sam shut the engine off and turned in the seat to look at her. "Ellen, a woman Dad used to know, runs this place. She helped us out not too long ago and well...we need all the help we can get."

She just nodded and climbed out of the car, readjusting her jeans against her legs before she shoved her hands into the pockets of the zipup hoodie she wore over a plain black tee shirt with a slit in the collar. She felt like crap and probably looked the part. Glancing over at Dean as he emerged from the car, she just turned her head slightly so he was out of her line of vision and followed Sam into the saloon. She was more than grateful for the dark atmosphere in the place, the shadows not hurting her eyes as much as the blinding rays of sun. But due to her tired nature and the headache that was still brewing, she ended up shrinking behind Dean when two women loudly addressed the boys. She could only assume that the older woman was Ellen while the other girl, a girl that looked about her age, was letting her eyes travel up and down Dean's frame. Rolling her eyes lightly, she just walked away from the boys and took a seat at a table out of the way.

Dean glanced over when Chance disentangled herself and walked over to her, but not before glancing over at Jo, who was giving him a very questioning look. Sliding into a chair next to her, he rested his arms on the table and looked over at her. "How's the head?"

"About to split open." She mumbled out, turning her upper body so that both elbows could be planted firmly on the table. Once that was accomplished, her head quickly sank into her hands. "I don't know how Sam can do this." She mumbled out, rubbing her forehead before she sat up when she heard new voices. Glancing over at Dean, she raised an eyebrow slightly then got up to follow him when he started after Sam, who was heading toward the back.

"Yo Ash." Sam called out, barging on the door in front of him. Chance caught up and couldn't help but snicker when she saw the wooden plaque on the door. Shaking her head, she just pushed hair off her forehead and looked around. But when Dean addressed the Ash person as Dr. Badass, Chance couldn't help the snickers that passed her throat. They grew even more when the guy appeared, naked, forcing her to blink then look away, practically having to hide her face in Dean's shoulder. Holding her hand up slightly, she gestured back up to the front and walked away. As she moved through the bar, she could easily feel eyes on her, watching every single step she took through the place. Once she was seated in a chair, the source of the impenitrable stare became viewable. In the form of Jo.

"Yeah?" She asked as she laid her arms on the table, crossing one forearm over the other.

"You know the Winchesters?" Jo asked before she could stop herself, feeling like she had just asked a very obvious question. Chance glanced beside her, noticing Dean appear from the back and nodded. "Yeah, I grew up with them." She answered blankly then looked up at Jo again. "How long you been making lovey eyes at Dean?"

Jo couldn't help but blink at the question. She had to hand it to the woman sitting in front of her. The girl had guts. Course, she had to given the fact that she had come in with the Winchester boys. "Uh...I don't know what you mean."

Chance had to snicker at that, slowly shaking her head as she leaned back in her chair. But before she could say anything, Dean had reached them and pretty much halted the rest of the conversation that Chance didn't really want to have. Last thing she wanted was to let the green-eyed monster attack her when things already felt rocky enough with Dean. Looking up at him, she leaned forward slightly, dimly aware that Jo had walked away without so much as a word to either one of them. "Did that guy come up with anything?"

Dean shrugged and eased into a chair across the table from her. "He's talking to Sam now. They're trying to figure out what the logo belongs to."

"It belongs to a bus company out of Guthrie, Oklahoma." Sam announced as he walked up to them, causing Chance to blink and jump slightly. She swatted at him for surprising her then climbed to her feet. "Okay, so what now?" She asked, her eyes darting back and forth between the brothers. She was half-expecting them to say that she was staying here while they went and dealt with whatever was forcing Sam to have these visions.

Dean just shrugged and stood up, his hands instantly going into the pockets of his jeans. "Hit the road, I guess."

She just nodded then held her hand out. "Gimme the keys. I'll wait for you and Sam out there."

"What?" He asked, looking at her as if she'd sprouted another head. No one asked for the keys to the Impala and actually got them! Sam only had a set of keys because of the fact that they had DNA in common.

Chance rolled her eyes lightly and shoved her hand out a little more toward him. "I'm asking for keys. It's not a life or death thing." She honestly didn't see what the big deal was. But then again, this was Dean and anything relating to the car his father had given him was major. "And I promise, I won't even get near the wheel." She promised, trying her best to keep the grin off her face.

He just shook his head slightly then, against his better judgement, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and dropped them into her outstretched hand. "If there's even a scratch..." Chance quickly cut him off, rolling her eyes as she waved her hand slightly. "Please, like I'd scratch up your baby. I promise, it'll be in one piece when I get back."

Dean's eyes instantly widened but before he could do anything, she had already darted out of the building and outside. Looking over at his brother, who looked like he was about to double over in laughter, he just shook his head then snatched the napkin out of Sam's hand. "Oh shut up. What'd you find out?"

Recovering kind of quickly, he cleared his throat then pointed at the napkin as he told him everything that he had found out with Ash. Once the news was shared, Dean nodded then gestured at the door. "Let's get outta here. Chance has my keys and it's driving me nuts."

Sam couldn't help but snicker as he shook his head slightly. "Dude, when are you two gonna give it up?"

"Give what up?" He asked, shooting him a hideously surprised look.

"Your whole flirty...weird...thing!" He sputtered out. How the hell should he know what they were doing? All he knew was that he was starting to get sick of the sexual tension.

Dean just rolled his eyes and lightly pushed his brother toward the car once they had reached the outside parking lot. "Dude, shut up and get in the car before I leave your ass."


	6. Chapter 6

_I own nothing but the original female lead. Please review._

* * *

**Chapter Six:**

Chance stayed silent as she stared at the glass in front of her. The hunt was over and she was finally able to at least try and wind down. Too bad she couldn't. This job had probably been one of the hardest hunts she had ever been on. Not only had she gained more insight into what was in store for both her and Sam, but she had been there to watch as the powers the guy they were hunting had turned on Dean. That was probably an image that she would never be able to get out of her head. The image of him turning the rifle around and tucking it under his chin.

Shaking her head slightly when the images threatened to flood into her mind yet again, she jumped slightly when she felt a familiar presence beside her. "I don't feel like social drinking." She mumbled out as she pulled the glass up to her lips and took a healthy drink.

Dean just shook his head slightly as he watched her. He could tell something was going on and he wasn't leaving her alone until he found out just what it was. "Well you don't get a choice so I guess one of us has to deal." He replied, sliding onto a stool beside her and ordered a beer for himself. Once it was set down in front of him, he took a sip before turning his head to look at her. "What's going through your head?"

She glanced over at him then shook her head slightly as she finished off what was left in the glass. She didn't even bother to acknowledge him until she had a fresh drink in her hand. Once she had taken another swallow, she set the glass down and turned her head to look at him, a sarcastic, yet bemused expression on her face. "I'm a monster." She blurted out suddenly. The alcohol had started to loosen up her tongue and she knew, deep in the back of her mind, that this conversation wasn't going to turn out well.

He shook his head slightly, studying his beer intently before he took a drink. But yet for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to look over at her. "You're not a monster."

Chance couldn't help but scoff, downing a pretty large drink in one shot then slammed the glass down. Climbing to her feet, she kept a tight grip on the bar so she wouldn't crumble to the floor. "Oh yeah, I believe that a hundred percent. Really, who would ever accuse you of lying?" She slurred, already feeling like they were plunging head-first into a tumultuous conversation. That was one thing that they both shared in common; alcohol loosened their tongues and the truth always came out in these occasions. She couldn't help but laugh as she took a step back from the bar, being careful not to knock into the stool she had just been sitting on. "Dean, you can't even look at me! Am I becoming that horrible of a person? Or are you just imagining all of the things I could possibly do?"

That statement forced him to not only look at her, but turn around on his seat to fully look at her. His entire body was completely set on her, and part of him hated that. "Do you even hear yourself right now, Chance? Just because..." Glancing around, he shook his head and climbed to his feet. If they were going to fight, especially about this, no way in hell was he going to do it in a crowded bar where guys could possibly get the wrong idea and try to beat his ass. Bar fight was not high on the list at the moment. Grabbing her arms, he quickly scooped her up and carefully tossed her over his shoulder. He heard her squeal and demand to be put down but he just ignored it, paying for their drinks before he headed for the door. It was easier to get her out and in the car this way, she had less power to fight him. Doing just that, he didn't say a single word until they were outside and she was locked in the Impala. Once he was sure that she had stopped trying to get out and go back inside, his full attention was once again on her. "Do you hear yourself right now? So what if someone that had the same abilities as you used them demonically? That doesn't mean you're going to. And it damn sure doesn't mean that Sam is going to."

"You don't know that!" Chance shot back, still a little pissed at him for dragging her out of the bar and locking her up in the car. Had she been sober and fully coherent, she would have seen this coming. Dean always had the impeccable ability to trap her into a conversation she didn't want to have. Figuratively and literally. "You don't know what either one of us are capable of! Do you think that anyone from Weber's life realized he was fully able to do the shit he did? He made you turn the gun on yourself, Dean! If he can do that, who knows what I could to do you?"

"Well for starters? You don't have the same abilities." He barked out. He wasn't even sure if what he was saying was completely accurate or not. All he knew was the fact that the words coming out of his mouth felt like the right thing to say right then. He would just have to remember them for the time when he would have to have the same conversation with Sam. "And second? The three of you grew up in totally different circumstances. Has the Demon visited you? Has he told you to do God-knows what to God-knows who?!"

"No." She shot out before she could stop herself then looked down, pulling her engagement ring off. Staring at it for a few seconds, she just threw it at him before words began to fly past her lips. "No, I didn't get there in time to watch it kill my fiancee. It's never targeted me, Dean, it's just targeted everyone else around me. So I'm sorry that I can't say I've been on the receiving end of a visit from the bastard. I was sorta busy burying people."

Dean just shook his head slightly and looked away, honestly at a loss for what to say. He knew that he had hit a sore spot almost as soon as he brought up the damn demon. But with everything that had just happened, and him admitting to a perfect stranger, with her in the car, that he was scared of their abilities, had landed him in a position that he didn't really want to be in. Letting a few beats of silence pass, he just sighed and slouched back against the seat, his eyes soon returning to her. "Look, we can sit out here all night and fight, which is something you seem to be really amped up for. Or we can go back to the hotel, get some shut eye and get ready for another day. It's up to you."

All she could seem to do was just stare at him in utter disbelief. She knew he had a habit of letting what she said go in one ear and out the other without so much as a second thought. But for him to have nothing to say about the words that had just spilled past her lips? That was a new one. Shaking her head almost on sheer instinct, she just turned and popped the lock on the door, shoving it open before she climbed out. Leaning over, she just gave him an overly-sweet smile. "I'll meet you back at the hotel then." She replied then straightened up and slammed the door back against the car before he had a chance to say anything else. If he wanted to be oblivious, or pretend to be oblivious, he could be. She would just walk back instead of staying in the same car. Turning on her heel, she just folded her arms over her chest and began to walk, honestly not sure if Dean would even bother to try and get her back into the car or not.

He just stayed where he was as the car stopped rocking from her outburst. He knew she had a tendency of being angry but damn! Though he had to admit, he was starting to feel the same emotion beginning to boil up underneath the skin too. He didn't really understand it, but then again, he also wasn't letting himself try to figure it out. He knew that she had a lot going on, as did he and Sam, but all of this felt like one gigantic headache that he just did not want to deal with. But this was something that he couldn't get away from. No matter how hard he tried to push away, it just came back with a stronger force than before. Finally firing the vehicle up to life, he easily maneuvered out of its parking place and began to slowly follow Chance back to the hotel. If she wanted to walk, that was fine. He couldn't beg her to get back in the car, but no way in hell was he going to let her walk back, in the dark, by herself. He wasn't that big of a jackass.

* * *

Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly as he sat in front of the large window next to the door. The laptop was positioned in front of him and three day's worth of research was spread out on the table around him, but yet for some reason, he just could not force himself to focus. He wasn't really sure why, or what was causing, but that was what was happening. He'd gotten wind of a few stories going around in various parts of the States, but none of them seemed to pan out into their line of work. He felt drained, exhausted, and irritated. On top of it all, Chance had stopped talking to him all together. That was the thing that unnerved him the most. Even during their most harsh, drag-out fights, she usually said something to him out of spite or anger. But now? Now she was refusing to even look in his direction. Glancing over unwillingly, he sighed quietly when his eyes landed on her sleeping form. She had taken one of the beds, Sam in the other, while he had opted to stay up and do some digging around. He knew that whenever the need arose, he could just climb into bed next to her and catch some sleep. She had made it clear that, even though she was mad at him, she wasn't going to make him sleep on the floor. But yet he stayed awake, watching as she slept. Memorizing the way her facial expressions changed what with she was probably dreaming about. That was another thing that unnerved him; Dean wondering what she was dreaming about when she slept. A part of him hoped that they were normal dreams for a woman her age. Settling down, having a man in her life that loved and doted on her. But he also wondered if she was dreaming of the life she could have had. One that didn't include him, Sam, and demons. But almost as soon as his mind began to travel down that path, wondering how different his life would have been had he not known her, his thoughts were snapped by a sudden break in the silence.

Jumping to his feet, he quickly vaulted onto the bed, not thinking twice as he gripped Chance's arms. She had been sleeping a little uneasy over the past few nights, but she had only just started crying in her sleep. Tonight, it had been elevated to screaming and thrashing around before curling up into a ball. "Chance!" He growled, shaking her so hard that her entire upper body was being lifted off the bed before slamming back into the mattress. Sam, who had woken up when she started screaming, climbed out of his own bed, doing whatever he could to help his brother wake her up.

Coming back from the small bathroom with a glass of water in his hand, Dean quickly took it and doused Chance with it. The water barely had time to bead against her skin before she was jerked into reality, still screaming at the terrors from her sleep. Pushing Dean off her, and Sam away from her side, she scooted up against the headboard, breathing heavily with signs of her voice fading away from all the screaming she'd been doing. Glancing back and forth at them, she quickly swiped both hands over her face and into her hair before she forced herself to pretend that she was okay. That, now that she was awake, the things she had been dreaming about wouldn't climb out of the shadows to attack her.

"What were you dreaming about?" Dean asked before he could stop himself, Sam hot on his heels with more questions. Chance just shook her head at them, maneuvering her body off the bed and to her feet. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and uneasy emotions; all stemming from the dreams she had been jerked out of. "It was just a dream." She kept saying, over and over in hopes that they would believe her so Sam could go back to sleep and Dean could go back to research. But they didn't let up, more questions coming in the form of what had she been dreaming about, and what had she seen. Were they connected to anything real? That was the only question that she could answer as she flattened her back against the wall beside where she had just been sleeping. "They were just dreams! Just...memories from the past." Chance mumbled hollowly, dimly aware that the brothers were starting to realize that she wasn't going to give them anymore information other than that. And honestly, she didn't want to talk about them. She didn't want to talk about the memories that brought tears to her eyes, and fear into her voice.

Sam was the first to relent, conceding as he climbed back into his bed. But all three involved knew that the younger man wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. He was too worried about Chance now to have a dreamless and deep slumber. Dean stayed where he was on the bed, eyes intently fixed on her as she started to walk around the bed in the path of the bathroom. All he could do was nod his head when she mumbled out that she wanted to clean up after her upper body getting drenched in water. He finally climbed off the bed and went to his bag when he heard the bathroom door click into the frame. Finding a shirt that she had worn once upon a time, he unfolded it and tossed it over his shoulder as he walked over to the door separating him from Chance. He tested the lock and was a little surprised to learn that it was unlocked. Pushing the door open slightly, he quickly averted his eyes when he saw her bare back.

Looking over her shoulder, both hands quickly came up to hide her chest from view. "Yeah?" She asked quietly, her voice still strained from earlier.

Dean cleared his throat lightly and held the shirt out as he pushed the rest of his body behind the door, hoping it gave her more privacy than she'd originally had. "Dry shirt."

She just nodded, taking the shirt from him as a quiet 'thanks' filtered past her lips. Once the shirt was on, and her soaked tank top was wadded up, she turned toward the door and grabbed the piece of heavy wood, pushing it open further as a signal that it was safe for him to look.

Recognizing the signal, he pulled his eyes away from the floor, letting his hand drop to his side before his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. "Think you can go back to sleep?" Dean asked, not really sure where her head was at, or what she could possibly be thinking about right then. But when she shook her head violently, he knew that neither one of them would be getting a large amount of sleep that night. And that was fine with him. If she wanted him to stay up with her, that was exactly what he was going to do. "Want me to stay up with you?" He asked, his voice and mind quickly beginning to fight over that slip of information.

Chance looked at him, the expression on her face softening as she shook her head yet again. "Nah, you look exhausted. You should try and get some sleep."

"I was just doing some research and I might have a few leads, I wasn't ready to pass out yet."

Her lips curved into a small 'O' shape, but no sound passed her lips. Nodding, she just slipped past him and walked out into the main area, pulling her hair back into a high ponytail. Reaching the chair he had been sitting in just moments before, she curled her legs up to her chest and got comfortable, her eyes already beginning to scan the website he had pulled up on Sam's laptop. "What'd you find?" She asked when he got close enough to hear her voice. Answering just as quietly, Dean pulled a chair up beside her and began to share the information he'd found with her. But like him, she had decided that none of it was really worth checking out and that they should probably keep searching. No matter how angry she was at him, she knew that he cared about her. Whether he was able, or even wanted to admit it or not, she could see it, and had seen it when she had woken up. They had a job to do, and that came before any personal crap going on between them.


	7. Chapter 7

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Seven:**

Chance yawned mutely as she lay curled up in the back of the Impala. Yet again, they were on their way to the Harvelle Roadhouse. Why? She wasn't really sure and she was too exhausted to question the brothers' motives. The evil part of her mind reasoned that Dean was probably wanting to go so that he could drool on Jo, but then her conscious came into play and blew the evil thoughts out of the way. Lifting her head slightly when the car came to a stop and the engine died, she carefully turned around in the seat, hiding her face from view in hopes that she wouldn't have to go in with them.

Dean, glancing into the backseat, noticed her curled up, with her back facing them and shook his head slightly. Too bad he couldn't really pull his eyes away from her. She had tossed her jacket off almost as soon as they had gotten into the car that morning, and in the process of the drive from their last destination to Nebraska, the back of her top had ridden up to reveal something he didn't remember seeing before. He hadn't really been able to notice when he had walked into her changing in the bathroom, he'd been too preoccupied with other thoughts to let what looked like a tattoo on her back register. Forcing himself not to focus on the bit of a black, Tribal design peeking out underneath her shirt, he instead climbed out of the car while Sam followed suit. Neither one heard the sigh of relief from Chance when she got away with pretending to be asleep.

Too bad the silence didn't really last long and before she knew it, voices were coming out around the car and she was sitting up to see who all had come out of the saloon. She could easily see Sam and Dean, as well as a blonde head that she figured was Jo. Sitting forward, Chance laid her arms across the seat as she watched the three interact, wondering what the two boys thought of the tiny girl that knew what their lives dealt with. But when she saw them advance on the car, with Jo standing in their wake, she quickly leaned back and resumed her previous position of laying against the seat, her eyes fixed blankly on the ceiling above her.

"You're already busted." Dean called out as he climbed in behind the wheel, Sam snickering as he took the passenger seat. "Might as well sit back up."

Huffing, she pushed herself up and got comfortable, not bothering to hide the look of annoyance on her features. "For the record? I didn't do it."

Once again, Sam snickered as Dean rolled his eyes then tossed a manilla folder at her. "What's this?" She mumbled, flipping it open to see what it held.

"A trail Jo put together." He answered, starting the engine up before he manuvered the large car around to get back out on the road. He glanced in the rearview and bit his tongue when she curled up in the seat, her legs pulled up to her chest as she inspected the contents of the folder. Though, he was a little grateful that he had been watching her. There was no mistaking the annoyed expression that passed over her features briefly before fading away. "Then why isn't she hunting it?"

"Cause her mom doesn't want her to." Sam surprisingly answered her question instead of Dean, who was busy trying to get the Impala on the road and in a lane at the same time. Dude really was a dangerous driver when she thought about it. Looking up at the younger Winchester, she raised an eyebrow slightly as she bit down on her lower lip. "Splain." She mumbled out right before her eyes dropped down to resume studying the newspaper clippings Jo had pieced together.

"Her father was a hunter and he got killed. Ellen doesn't want her hunting and have the same thing happen to her." This time, it was Dean that was answering her question.

"Oh, so she's okay with sending you two head-first into danger." She blurted out, wanting to smack herself almost instantly once the words registered. She really did need to fix the filter between her mouth and her mind.

"We're used to it," Dean mumbled, glancing back at her before he looked at the road again. "She isn't. She's probably never been on a hunt in her life."

"Girl doesn't know what she's missing." Chance mumbled out, her voice laced with mock enthusiasm. Though the more she perused the file, the more she began to secretly applaud the girl. She knew what she was doing when it came to putting a case together, especially one that spanned eighty years of missing women. All with blonde hair. Frowning slightly, she glanced at the hair that had fallen over her shoulder and quickly shut the file. Leaning forward, she let it drop onto the seat between the guys then laid back. "Lemme know when we get there." She mumbled out, forcing her brain to shut up as she closed her eyes.

* * *

By the time they had reached the Pennsylvania line, Chance was out like a light, and had been for quite some time. The only thing the boys could be grateful for was the fact that she didn't snore. And she must have actually gotten some sleep because no tears had been shed, and screams hadn't pierced the air. Yet another thing that both Sam and Dean were grateful for.

Sam glanced back at her then turned his attention onto his brother, even turning slightly to look at him better. "So...when are you going to tell me what the silent treatment was all about?"

Dean shot him a sharp look then shook his head slightly as he continued to drive over the speedlimit. "She got pissed off at me. Usual crap when it comes to me and Chance."

He stayed silent for a minute, letting the older Winchester's words plow through his brain before he slowly started to shake his head. "No. I don't think that's it. I think you're hiding something from me."

"What the hell could I possibly be hiding from you?! You're psychic boy, remember?" He tried to joke, hoping like hell that it shifted the conversation. But when he realized that it wouldn't, he sighed then shrugged as he pulled off the highway in favor of a route that would take them where they needed to be at. "It was after that whole thing in Oklahoma. I guess she was pissed I didn't pull the trigger or something. I don't know."

No way in hell was Sam buying that defence. Even without the 'gift' that the Demon had given him, which didn't really work when it came to seeing if people were lying or not, he wouldn't believe his brother. They had seen way too much, gone through way too much. Plus he had noticed the lack of a ring on Chance's finger and that was something that made him wonder even more. "Okay, how about the truth this time? And what happened to her ring?"

"Dude, why're you asking me?!"

"Cause Chance is asleep." Sam shot back, eyeing his brother even more intently than he had been just moments before. He knew something was up, he wasn't fully in the loop, and it was driving him beyond batty. Sam also knew how Dean acted around women. Case in point, a girl named Cassie Robinson that Dean had met while on a job in Ohio. It had taken her calling them about a deadly black truck in Missouri that had brought the truth about her into light. So safe to say, when it came to a girl in Dean's life, getting any kind of information out of him was like pulling teeth. But Sam still had to try. He could easily tell that something was going on between the two, and someone needed to smack sense into his brother's head, too bad he had been tagged it. "Seriously Dean, where did her ring go?"

Huffing, Dean just rolled his eyes as he pulled off the road they'd turned onto not too long ago and parked by the side of the road. It was pitch black but this wasn't a conversation he wanted to have with Chance sleeping in the backseat. Motioning for his brother to climb out of the car, he got out and walked around to the back, cussing mentally as he leaned back against the trunk. Once Sam had joined him, he dug into his pocket and held up the ring that had once looked glued to Chance's finger. "She threw it at me. We got into a fight about the demon. She said stuff, I stuck my foot in my mouth, she threw the ring at me. That's it."

"No, that's not it Dean." He mumbled, turning to look at his brother better. "There is obviously something going on between you two. Hell, I could even see it before I left for school! Why can't you just admit that she gets under your skin?"

Frowning instantly, he started to launch into a long-winded rant about how there was nothing going on between him and Chance, but he was stopped when the taller guy started to flail his arms slightly. Looking over his shoulder, he nearly bumped into Sam when he saw Chance. "We thought you were asleep."

Even in the darkness, there was no mistaking the small frown on her face and her arms locked tightly against her chest. "I was, until you guys parked. The engine going off woke me up." She mumbled out, her voice still thick with sleep as she pushed hair behind her ear. Looking at the boys, she raised an eyebrow slightly before she shook her head and raised an hand slightly. "Nevermind. I'm not asking."

Exchanging looks with his brother, Dean just shrugged then followed Chance back to the car. They had to get on the road and start investigating the disappearances of girls in Philadelphia. No one said a single word as they climbed back into the car and started driving yet again. Chance curled up in the backseat, looking out the back windshield with tiny, white earbud speakers in her ears, blaring music from her iPod. Sam sat stewing in the passenger seat, not feeling any closer to getting answers than he had been before they had made the unexpected stop. And Dean? Dean was just trying to block everything out. Maybe his brother had a point. Maybe Chance was the one of the only girls on the planet that he had been able to see something with. A life where he didn't have to shield her from how he had grown up. But still, the danger was there, and that was the roadblock that the hopeful, and lonely part of his mentality just could not get over.

* * *

Chance resisted the urge to trip Dean as he and Sam carefully snuck into the vacant apartment. They had finally arrived at the complex where girls kept going missing, and the two of them decided to break into the last missing girl's apartment while Chance stood watch. That was just one of the things she wanted to kick the hell out of them for. Since when did she stand watch?! Shaking her head slightly, she just pushed Dean into the apartment when he decided to go into, yet again, her role in this whole thing. "Yeah, yeah, keep look-out. Shut up and just ghostbust." She mumbled out, shooting him a quick grin and shut the door between them before he could say or do anything. Yes, she had remembered just how much he hated that joke. Which was usually why she always went with it. But after only a few minutes of standing outside, leaning against the wall, she turned and pushed the door open. "Find anything yet?" She asked, sliding past the door then shut it up behind her.

Dean just rolled his eyes lightly and shook his head at her. But before he could answer, Sam's voice filled the air. "Guys, come check this out."

Chance looked at him curiously as she walked over to the open light switch he was staring at intently. "Aren't those things supposed to be covered?" She asked before she could really stop herself. Lightly getting a fist against her back, she quickly countered with her elbow in Dean's stomach before they both focused on Sam and the black goo covering his fingers. Shaking her head slightly when it was announced what they had found. A few more words were shared after that, her surprisingly staying silent so they could talk, then escaped back out into the hallway. One thing was for sure. They were dealing with one hell of an angry spirit. Glancing up when she heard movement, she straightened up when Sam and Dean came out of the apartment. "What now?"

Looking at each other, they just shrugged, which caused her to shake her head slightly at them. "Then how about we try to find a way to secure this apartment? That way we can find out more, not to mention have a decent place to stay?" She asked, smiling lightly when they agreed that it was a good idea. And once that was agreed on, they started down the hallway, but before she knew what was happening, Chance was being shoved against a wall, blocked from view by the boys when they heard voices coming down the hallway. She quickly resisted the urge to roll her eyes when she recognized one of the voices. Guess she had been wrong about Jo Harvelle.

Dean's mind was absolutely reeling as Jo came up to him, her face hidden behind a mega-watt smile. Instantly curling an arm around his back, he couldn't help but blink in surprise when she started to lie to the guy he could only assume was the landlord. "This is my boyfriend, Dean." She started out, looking over him at Sam, while Chance was still hidden from view. "And his buddy, Sam. They came with me to help me decide on the apartment. Did you check it out?"

He blinked yet again then found himself nodding before he had to defend himself on how they had managed to get into the apartment. One thing was for sure, this wasn't going to be like any normal hunt. That much was clear by how often Chance was poking him in the back. But if they all got out of this okay, then he would be very one lucky, and happy guy.


	8. Chapter 8

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**

Chance rubbed her forehead lightly as she sat next to Sam, helping him do research on the building they were currently in. Jo had flashed a wad of cash and was able to get them into the apartment. Too bad she'd been forced to sneak in since the damn landlord had never seen her. Yet another time when she seriously wanted to kick the hell out of the people she was with. Especially after Dean had nearly crushed her foot to get her to quit poking his back.

Leaning back in the chair, she sighed and rubbed her eyes before climbing to her feet. She needed something to drink and they didn't have anything in the apartment. Frowning slightly, she curled her arms across her chest as she slowly walked into the room Dean was holed up in, easily being able to feel Jo's eyes on her as she moved. But that was ignored as she plopped down on the couch beside him. Nudging her elbow into his arm, she mentally braced herself for him to smack her since she was pretty much interrupting his whole 'deep-thought research' moment.

Glancing up from the stack of papers Sam had printed off the laptop, he looked over at her and nudged her back lightly. "Find anything?"

Shaking her head slowly, she absently started to chew on the inside of her cheek as she craned her neck slightly to see what he had been reading before she had sat down. "Not really, just that the complex used to be a storage place before it was bought and turned into apartments. Sam and Jo think something might've happened in here to cause the bad ass spirit."

Dean nodded slowly then pinched the bridge of his nose and handed her the stack of papers. Everything that he had been reading, and was now trying to read, was beginning to look like a foreign language. His head hurt and lack of sleep was finally catching up to him. But these were all things that he knew how to hide. Too bad he couldn't really hide them from Chance, who easily caught on to what he was dealing with. Setting the papers aside, she stood up then held a hand out. "Come on, come take a walk with me."

Raising an eyebrow slightly, mostly because she was actually being nice to him, he took her hand and climbed to his own feet. "Why are we taking a walk?"

"Because I'm thirsty and you already told me that I can't leave this apartment by myself." She replied, there surprisingly being no malice or sarcasm in her tone of voice. She was honestly tired of fighting with him. Of worrying about when the other proverbial shoe was going to drop and she would have to deal with them leaving her life. It wasn't something she wanted to think about so, for the time being, she wasn't.

Not really able to believe that she was actually not fighting him on something, he just nodded and grabbed his jacket out of sheer habit and looked over at his brother. "We're going out for a bit. Want anything?" When both Sam and Jo shook their heads, he just nodded slightly, making sure he had his wallet and keys then followed Chance out of the apartment. Once out in the hallway, he pulled his jacket on and fell silent as she started to slowly walk down the hallway. "So what do you think we're hunting?"

Dean just shrugged as he fell into step beside her, honestly not really sure of how to answer her question. There wasn't much history on the building and he didn't really know how violent a person had to die in order for them to become as vicious as this one apparently was. "Honestly? Not sure. How many things do you know of that leave behind ectoplasm?"

Chance instantly started to chew on her lower lip as she shoved her hands into the pocket of the hoodie she had pulled over her tank top earlier in the evening. "That's what stumps me. I can't remember Bobby ever talking about those kind of spirits. I think he only dealt with one or two." The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Bobby had never really sat down and talked to her about all of the things that she could possibly come across as a hunter. Maybe, in the back of her mind, she thought that he hoped she would never lead this kind of life. That she would be able to grab onto some semblence of normalcy and hold onto it. She almost had, but demons from the past were a hell of a thing to shut the door on. Especially when they refused to let go of her. She honestly couldn't see how a person could let go of the things they had come across in their lives.

Dean nodded and fell silent after that. He wasn't really sure of what to say to her, or what was going through her mind. He was still trying to process the surprise that had come over him when she had asked him to take a walk. The only thing that he could formulate in his mind was the fact that the bond they shared was still there. It was still strong, possibly stronger, and that they could still read one another like an open book. There were no boundaries, no defenses instantly coming up whenever he was around her. And that was something that seriously unnerved him. Any other girl and his mind would quickly race to think of a plausible lie for how he had turned out. But not with Chance. They had seen too much, done too much side-by-side that the only logical way for them to be was emotionally naked. But only to each other, and of course Sam.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Chance just sighed and stepped down one of the stairs before she slowly knelt down to sit. Dean noticed and followed suit, ending up just mere inches from where she had perched. There was luckily enough room in case someone came up the stairs and needed to get by. She pulled her hands out from her pocket and wrapped them loosely around her raised knees as a soft smile overtook her features. "Remember when we were kids? John thought it would be a good idea to let me come with you guys on a hunt. Bobby had a hunt of his own, but it was way too dangerous for me to go with him, and he didn't want to risk me getting hurt. So he let me go with you, Sam, and John."

He nodded as the memories from that hunt began to flood through his mind. It was one of the only times he had been shut up in a motel for days and not complained. "I remember that. I also remember getting kicked every time I tried to treat you the same way I treated Sam. You've never let me take care of you." He paused once those words had hit the air then turned his head to look at her. "Why is that? Why haven't you ever let me take care of you?"

All Chance could do was shrug as she stared ahead of her. She wasn't really sure how to answer him. How could she when, in the back of her mind, that was one of the things she had always wanted. She couldn't, and had never been able to deny the fact that she always felt the safest curled up against him, even in the most innocent of moments. "Because...I think, I didn't want to be a burden." She answered quietly, finally shifting her face enough to look at him, loose blonde hairs falling over her shoulder. "I didn't want to make things harder on you. We were just kids but yet, you were the one taking care of everyone. John always left you in charge of Sam, and I got to see the look on your face when he came home from hunting. And the way you were with him..." Trailing off, she just shook her head slightly and looked down at her worn boots. "I remember thinking that I didn't want you to take care of me because you were already taking care of everyone else. I wanted to be the one that took care of you." She went on, honestly surprised that she was letting all of this out in the open. She had her secrets, every girl did. But to actually let them come to light? Her first thought was to lock herself up, to refuse to say anything else but that was something she knew that she just couldn't do. This was Dean, the boy she had grown up with. There was no way she would ever be able to shut herself off from him.

But their little moment of retrospection didn't last long. Hearing a noise down the hallway, Chance raised an eyebrow slightly as she leaned back to see what had caused it. Climbing to her feet, she was a little quicker than Dean was as she advanced down the hallway toward the source of the sound. By the time she reached the end of the hallway, she turned around to look before her eyes settled on him, who was about two steps away from her. "Please say you heard that." She mumbled out, right before the noise sounded again. This time they both looked around curiously before an idea struck him and he reached into his jacket to take the EMF detector that he always carried out. Positioning it toward the wall in front of him, they once again looked at each other as it started to go off wildly. Dean quickly set into action, kneeling down with the EMF still in front of him. That was when they saw an air duct that was locked away by an intricate bar design. Chance took a step forward, pulling a small flashlight out of the back of her pocket then knelt down beside him as he started to loosen the screws from the duct. Once that was out of the way, he leaned inside, feeling around for a sign of something...anything, while Chance showered light over his shoulder. A grimace instantly came to his face when he pulled his arm back, and Chance had to look away when she saw what was dangling between his fingers. "Well, I'll say this," Dean mumbled out as he inspected the hairs that were still clinging to a patch of scalp. "He's definitely got an eye for blondes."

* * *

Right after finding the patch of hair, Chance and Dean had gone back to the apartment to share their findings with Sam and Jo. They had been able to dig up a little more information about the complex and found out that before the storage facility had been built, it was just a patch of land. Nothing before that had stood where the building they were currently in had been.

Chance bit her lower lip lightly as she stood leaned over a desk, vaguely listening to Dean and Jo talk about something. She had noticed the younger girl twirling around a knife in her hand, and had to give her a little credit. Girl definitely knew how to handle a weapon. She just wondered how well Jo was with a gun, since it was apparent that knives were her specialty. But then again, Chance couldn't really say anything since, from the age of fourteen, her weapon of choice had always been a 9mm Beretta pistol. Chewing on her lower lip lightly, she straightened up slightly when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Pictures of the lot were spread out in front of her, both before and after the building had been built. Raising up to her full height, she reached over and grabbed a magnifying glass and leaned over the picture that had caught her eye. Sam noticed and walked up behind her. "What'd you find?"

"I'm not sure yet." She mumbled out, now practically inches away from the picture. She could vaguely make out something on one of the windows in the building next to the lot. Once again, she was straight and headed for the laptop that Sam had just been at. She quickly sat down, setting the glass aside as she typed something into a fresh search engine. Staying silent and ignoring Sam's eyes on her, she just leaned back in her chair when she found what she'd been looking for. Lifting her eyes from the screen, she managed to get Jo and Dean's attention before she said anything. "Did you guys find out anything about there being a prison next to this place?" When all three of the people staring at her shook their heads, she just nodded and sat up again, her fingers nimbly moving over the small keyboard. They finally had a possible connection and Chance was going to make damn sure that they followed it to the very end.

After what seemed like long, agonizing hours of silence, Chance finally looked up from the pictures she had been studying carefully. Sam had resumed his place at the laptop, running with the new facts that she had been able to dig up. Jo was now helping her look over the photos for any new clues about their little mystery. But that was quickly forgot about when Sam's voice sounded through the air. "Got a list of names from the prison."

Chance was the first one over at the computer, leaning over Sam's right shoulder as Jo leaned over his left, Dean standing directly behind his brother. Chance once again began to bite her lower lip as her eyes scanned over the names, until one caught her eye. "Stop." She blurted out then pointed out a specific name: Herman Webster Mudgett. Looking at Sam, she raised an eyebrow slightly when he seemed to get where she was going. "Isn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?" When Chance nodded, he quickly got up to look at something. Raising to her full height, everything quickly began to click into place. "We're hunting him." She quickly replied, causing Dean to look up at her for a split second before he walked back over to the table that had been dubbed their 'research table'. Sitting down, she quickly walked over to him, her eyebrow still raised as he began to read off information about Holmes silently. But when something caught his eye, he quickly looked up at Chance. "You remember smelling something in the hallway last night?"

"Where at in the hall?" She asked, trying to mentally figure out where he was going with this.

"Near the duct." He answered before looking down at the papers again. Shaking his head, he hung his head for a second then looked back up at her. "It was chlorophorm. That's one of the ways he liked to kill his victims." He revealed then glanced over at Jo before his focus shifted back onto Chance. "Who were usually petite blonde girls." That was the first time Chance and Jo actually looked at each other and held each other's gazes for longer than two seconds. Shaking her head slowly, she instinctively ran a hand through her hair, which had begun to lighten due to her not wanting to dye it. But after this hunt? She was going to make damn sure that she bought a bottle of black hair dye.


	9. Chapter 9

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Nine:**

Chance stayed silent as she stood outside, leaned back against the hood of the Impala. The hunt had finally ended, but not after a load full of drama. After they had found out just what they were dealing with, and how the ghost of H. H. Holmes was getting his victims, things had taken a drastic turn when Jo had turned up missing. Of course, the boys instantly set into action and she'd been forced to stay behind. After a long shouting match with Dean, they had decided against her. She was a possible target and walking into the sewer system, right into the path of the ghost was just not a smart idea. So instead they had gone to rescue Jo, leaving her behind until a plan had been set. It had ultimately been on her to make sure that a cement truck was at the sewer opening so that they could encase the spirit. His corpse was protected by cement and they wouldn't have been able to get to it to salt and burn the bones. So a plan B had been drawn up, executed, then Ellen showed up to get Jo. And when she found out that her only daughter had been taken? That pushed her into an even bigger blaze of fury. It had been so heated in the car that she'd been forced to sit in between Ellen and Dean in the front, while Jo and Sam took the backseat.

But now they were back at the roadhouse and Jo was safely under her mother's supervision yet again. The only thing that was really sticking out in Chance's mind was that she wanted what Jo had; a mother that loved her and cared about her enough to want to keep her out of harm's way. She'd never had that, she'd only ever had guys watching over her. That had probably been the reason for the tough shell that she had encased herself in from a very early age. She didn't know what it was like to be loved by a motherly figure. Out of the four of them, only Jo knew that and she had to grit her teeth every time it was brought up while the mother and daughter fought. Jo had the life she'd wanted. Plain and simple.

Her eyes quickly shifted to the door when she saw Dean and Sam walk out of the saloon. She straightened back up, but didn't get a chance to say anything before Jo tore out of the Roadhouse. Judging by the look on her face, something had just happened and whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything good. She felt rooted in place as Dean left them to go talk to her, her eyes moving away from them when Sam came up beside her. "I'm guessing the fight finally happened."

"I'm guessing so too." Sam replied quietly, honestly a little jealous of the fact that Ellen was so protective of Jo too.

Chance just nodded then turned and climbed into the Impala, Sam following her movements. She didn't really feel like trying to read lips and her body was screaming out in exhaustion. She just wanted to climb into a warm bed and sleep the events of the past few days away. Instead of laying down in the seat, like she wanted to, she sat up and stared out the window, trying to push away the naggging curiosity that came from watching Dean and Jo talk. Shaking her head slightly, she just nodded at something that Sam said, barely hearing him as she leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

* * *

Chance chewed on her lip nervously as she sat in the waiting area of a police station. Never, in all the years she'd known the Winchesters, had any of them slipped up enough to get caught by the cops. She'd heard about the incident in Jericho, California when Dean had to bust out, but to actually see him being handcuffed and shoved into an interogation room? That was something she hadn't been prepared for. But the hits had just kept on coming when Sam had been found in their hotel room. Luckily, she hadn't been in the room at the time so the detectives investigating the case still had no idea who she was. And she was planning on keeping it that way for as long as humanly possible. Looking up when she saw a woman walking toward her, she quickly climbed to her feet and shoved her hands into the pockets of her worn jeans. "Uh, excuse me?" She drawled out, taking full advantage of the accent she'd tried so hard to get rid of in her younger years.

Detective Diana Ballard stopped short when she heard Chance's voice, quickly eying the girl up and down before she gave her full atttention. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering...what's going on with the Winchester boys?" She asked, lies quickly coming together in her mind.

"Why do you want to know?" Diana asked before she could stop herself. She had no idea who this girl was, standing in front of her. But yet she seemed to know a lot about the two men they'd just arrested.

"Well cause I'm a family friend." She revealed, finally pulling her hands out of her pockets to twist them nervously in front of her. Her movements weren't all an act though. She was honestly nervous and anxious at the charges that Dean was facing. She could still remember practically begging him to not go back and check on Karen Giles, but yet he had anyway, and that was when he had been busted then later brought to the station. And when they had managed to find Sam, she had hidden out in the parking lot of the motel, waiting until everything was clear before she came down to check on the boys. Her family.

Diana just nodded as she continued to eye her. Her hair was a little darker now after the hunt they had all faced in Pennsylvania, while a leather jacket, tank top, jeans, and boots completed her look. "What's your name?"

"Chance Adams." She replied without any hesitation. She was sure that if this investigation continued, she would be found out sooner or later. She had too much of a connection to the Winchester family for them to overlook her. And she was determined to stay out of trouble. The last thing the three of them needed was for them all to be incarcerated. "I...grew up with them. I just want to know what's going on and if there's any way I can talk to them." She blurted out, hoping against hope that she could somehow convince this woman that she could get the boys to work with her, instead of against her like they were probably doing. When silence lingered, Chance sighed and let her shoulders, as well as her hands drop slightly. "Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble here. But I happen to know how they operate. I know that Dean is probably giving you the run around with all of his sarcastic comments, and that Sam is refusing to say a single negative word about his brother. That's just how they are, how they've...always been."

Detective Ballard had to give it to the girl standing in front of her. She definitely knew what she was talking about. Sighing quietly, she just motioned at her desk then indicated for Chance to follow her. "Let me check you out then we'll see if you can go in and talk to them." When she nodded, Diana did too then crossed the room to her desk. Chance stood near the desk, too anxious and fidgety to sit still. This was the first time she'd ever been checked out by the police, but she knew that her history wouldn't work against her. Or at least, that's what she was hoping for.

After typing her name in the search engine, the older woman leaned back in her chair slightly and looked up at Chance. "Says here that you also dropped off the face of the planet a few months ago. Before that, you were a graphic designer, making pretty good money. What happened?"

Chance swallowed hard as she slowly sank into a nearby chair. How the hell was she going to talk them out of this one? Running a hand through her hair, she was instantly relieved to realize that her engagement ring had been put back on. Not without a fight with Dean first, but it was back in it's place. "My fiancee died. Dean and Sam were on a roadtrip when I called them, they came to help me out and I just ended up going with them. I needed a break from all of the reminders and people that were overwhelming me with fake sympathy." It wasn't entirely a lie! She had just edited out all of the supernatural envolvements because she wasn't particularly keen on having a straitjacket slapped on over her clothes.

"Also says here that you lost your mom around the same time that the Winchesters did." Diana went on, a little curious as to why her life story matched almost identically to the Winchester boys'. Chance instantly tensed up when her mother was mentioned and Diana realized it. It was hard not to notice her 5'6" frame instantly going rigid. "Sore subject?"

Chance shook her head slightly, mostly to keep herself in check and pushed back a few hairs, looking the woman directly in the eye. "Does it also say that my father died shortly after? I was six years old when I met the Winchesters. They were good friends with the guy that had taken custody of me. He was a friend of my father's."

"How?" Diana asked before she could stop herself and Chance angled her head slightly. "How does pumping me for information help with Dean and Sam's cases?" She asked carefully, her voice sounding more neutral than anything. It was an honest question and she didn't know why her personal life was being dug into the way it was. So she had close ties to people? So what? Scratching the back of her neck, she then rubbed her forehead and let the irritated expression fall from her face. "I just want to help out my friends. It's not like I'm expecting bail to be given for Dean. But I would like to just talk to them, see if they're okay and if there's anything I can do to help. I'm not just gonna sit here with my finger up my nose. while my best friends face jailtime."

Diana could tell by the look on the woman's face, that she meant business. Of course, she couldn't really blame her. If the roles were reversed, the detective wasn't sure if she'd be able to just sit and do nothing. Finally giving in, at least mentally, she stood up and motioned for Chance to follow her. Chance did so without question, or a word. No way was she going to say anything and possibly screw up her chance to talk to both Sam and Dean. She stopped and resisted the urge to shove her hands into the pockets of her jacket when a door was opened. She could vaguely see Dean but no much else due to Detective Ballard blocking her view. She just looked away, biting her tongue as the woman announced that she was there to see the Winchester boy. Yet another time when violence wasn't the answer. She just kept her head bent, stepping into the room when she was finally granted access. She also ignored the glare being burned into the side of her head from the guy that had been standing in the corner of the room. He was presumably the guy that the woman had been talking to. Walking over to the table, she prepared to sit down but stopped and looked over her shoulder when she noticed that both Diana and the other detective, Pete Sheridan had yet to actually leave the room. Yet again, she started resisting habits and looked at them both plainly. "I'm not going to help him escape. I just need a few minutes."

Dean couldn't help but look up at Chance in amusement. No matter what happened or what was going on, he could always count on her to back him up or defend him in some way. Course he returned the favor, but silently of course. He didn't say anything until the two cops had left the room and she was in the chair in front of him.

Chance just shook her head slightly, a small smile lifting to the surface when she saw the shackles that had his hands bound to the table. "Shackles? Cute look for you." She couldn't help but tease him. That was the only jab she was going to take though. She had no idea how long they'd have and wanted to make it all count. "So how can I help?" She asked, leaning against the table as she waited for him to bring their secret codes to life yet again.

"I'm surprised they didn't lock you up." He mumbled out, knowing that someone was listening in, as well as watching them through the mirrored window.

She just shrugged and leaned even closer so her voice wouldn't carry. "I wasn't in the motel when they busted Sam. How far did you get?"

He nodded then shook his head slightly before leaning back in his chair. "Went to check on her. I got about as far as seeing bruises on her wrists then the cops came in. Why did they get Sam?"

Yet another shrug bounced off her shoulders at his question, still leaning over the desk. "I'm guessing maybe someone saw the two of you, so they lumped him in. I'm gonna see if I can talk to him once they kick me outta here. Just keep your cool, okay? You getting all sarcastic isn't going to help anything."

Dean just nodded and leaned against the table again as she stood to leave the room. They seemed to have perfect timing because as soon as she climbed to her feet, Detectives Ballard and Sheridan walked into the room.

"Time's up." Pete blurted out, obviously looking at Chance and not Dean. That right there, the look he was giving her, made him want to climb out of his chair and waste the bastard. But he was cuffed and no way could he stand, let alone move an inch away from the desk.

"I wanna see Sam now." She replied, matching his glance almost perfectly. She didn't really have a leg to stand on and she knew it, but one thing she had learned was that the less she conveyed, the better.


	10. Chapter 10

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Ten:**

Chance rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat in the hotel room that, just hours before, Sam had been dragged out of. The case against him was flakey at best, and she wasn't really surprised when he had been able to escape without so much as anyone batting an eyelash. He had come back to the hotel and told her that Dean had decided to confess and that had given him the chance to escape. They had also found out a new piece to the puzzle. The word left behind at each of the crime scenes was not a name, as they had previously thought. Instead, it had been Dean's public defender that made them realize that the word they were looking at was a location. Ashland. So she had instantly started to get to work, with Sam's help, trying to find out if anything had gone down on that street that would warrant the kind of situation that they were in.

Frowning at the computer screen, her hands dropped into her lap as she leaned back in the chair. But a moment of utter frustration hit and the book that had been laying in front of her went flying.

Sam instantly looked up when he heard the book crash against the wall then thud against the floor. Climbing to his feet, he walked over and sat on the bed closest to where Chance was. "We're gonna figure this out."

"When?" She blurted out before she could stop herself, her tired eyes fixing blankly on him. "Before or after the judge decides to give him the death penalty. And why didn't you tell me about the shapeshifter in St. Louis?!"

"Because we thought we'd dealt with it! The guy died in Dean's shape, there was no way that we could fix it or change it."

Chance just rolled her eyes and pivoted out of the chair, her body mechanically moving to pace the small space of the motel room. "You could've done something! Anything! Hell, you could have shaved his skin off and burned him."

"But then the cops would have no leads as to who tortured all those women! My friend, Zach would've been killed for a murder he didn't commit."

"But now we have to deal with the fact that the world knows that Dean is very much alive, and they all think that he's a damn killer! He's never killed anyone, or thing that didn't deserve it. He's a hunter, pure and simple!" Every single word she said was coming from a deep-seeded fear that she had never known about until now. Until they had hit the Baltimore city limits and Dean had been arrested. Shoving her fist against the wall, she didn't even wince as she turned then leaned back heavily against it. "If he had just stayed away from the damn house. None of this, none of it would be happening right now!"

Sam opened his mouth to say something but instantly shut it when he heard someone knocking on the door. He quickly motioned for Chance to hide in the bathroom, which she surprisingly listened to and moved out of sight. Sighing quietly, he walked over, his entire body steeled up as he answered the door and found Detective Ballard standing on the other side. "Dean told me how to find you."

He just nodded and moved aside so she could come into the room. "Come to arrest me again?"

"No, your brother confessed, but it wasn't the kind of confession that Pete was hoping for." She replied, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. Sam noticed and carefully reached out to see the bruises that he could have sworn weren't there the last time he'd seen her. "Where'd you get these?"

"I was in the bathroom...when I saw the mystery woman." As soon as she said that, he announced that it was safe for Chance to come out. Diana quickly started to back up when she appeared, her hands shoved into the back pockets of her jeans. "Okay, so you weren't lying."

"Nope, I wasn't." Chance replied then raised an eyebrow slightly when she saw the woman's wrists. "What happened?" The same explaination was given to her that was given to Sam and she shook her head slowly as she turned the detective's wrists over. "It looks like they've been bound by something."

That set Sam into action, walking over to the computer. Once there, he picked up a stack of photos and plopped down in the chair. "What did she look like?" He asked, tearing his eyes from Chance to Detective Ballard.

"You mean the woman I saw?" When he nodded, she sighed and started to describe the woman. Sam just nodded once she was finished and handed her the stack of photos that Chance had been able to get a hold of. "You're not supposed to have these." Diana blurted out, looking at Sam then at the woman to her right.

Chance just shrugged and shoved her hands back into her pockets. "We have ways of finding things." She shrugged unevenly then went to stand next to Sam as Diana took a seat on the bed to look through the photos. "These are autopsy photos and mugshots."

"Like she said." Sam mumbled, gesturing at Chance. "You have your job, we have ours." All the older woman could really do was nod as she looked down at the photos, getting through about two before she found the face of the woman that seemed to be haunting a lot of people. "That's her."

Sam's eyebrow quirked slightly as he took the pictures back, holding it up to read her name. "Claire Becker. Went missing about eight or nine months ago. She was on Ashland street the last time anyone saw her."

"Tag! She's the ghost." Chance mumbled out, scratching the back of her neck as she rounded the table to find the stack of papers she'd printed off from the women in the photos. At least they were finally getting somewhere with this mystery. That was the part that mattered most right then.

* * *

Once enough information had been complied, the next course of action was for Sam and Diana to go check out Ashland street and see what they could find out. Chance agreed but decided to stay behind and go try and see Dean. He needed to be kept in the loop and she wasn't about to push him out of the investigation that had his life hanging in the balance.

She'd managed to get a car from someone in the motel that was kind enough to buy the story she had given them. Getting to the station in record time, she walked in and asked for Dean. Yet another lie passed her lips but it didn't go over. Mainly because Dean had just left with Pete. He was being transported back to St. Louis. Tonight.

All she could think to do was call Sam as she tried to figure out her next course of action. Waiting until she got him on the phone, she just let the keys dangle from the igniton, lightly drumming her fingers against the wheel until she heard the younger Winchester's voice. "Yeah?"

"We got a problem." She blurted out, looking out the window in a nervous habit. "The other detective just left with Dean. He's getting sent back to St. Louis tonight."

"What?!" Sam honestly couldn't believe that this was happening. "Where are you?"

"Sitting outside the station, trying to figure out what to do next. I have no idea which way they went and the dude has about a ten minute head start on me."

"Okay, just sit there. I'll call you right back." Quickly hanging up the phone, he turned his head to look at Diana. "That was Chance. She just tried to see Dean and he's gone. Your partner's extraditing him in the middle of the night."

Suspicion suddenly seemed to cling to Diana as she made a call, realizing that a city vehicle was used for transport and relayed the message over to him. Once he told her to get the low-jack turned on, he called Chance back, telling her that they were about to pass the precinct and to follow them. His nerves, as well as Chance's began to grow as they tried to track the van that Dean was in, knowing that this entire set-up was probably not going to end well. And the entire time, Chance did something that she hadn't done since she was a little kid. She began to pray, hard, that everything would turn out okay. They would find a way out of this. They just had to. She wasn't ready to lose Dean yet, not when she had just gotten him back in her life.

As soon as she saw the car in front of her pull off into a deserted part of woods, she quickly manuvered the car up behind theirs, killing the engine as she hopped out of the car, more than grateful for the gun that she had tucked against the small of her back. A habit that she'd loathed Dean for, but had been passed on to her. Coming up behind Sam, she couldn't help but look away when she saw the scene in front of her. Dean's hands were still shackled to his feet and he was sitting on the ground. Pete stood over him, with a gun pointed directly at him. She felt frozen in place, having no idea of what to say or do. Instinct was telling her to just rush the guy and try to get the gun away. But logic kicked in and she knew that if that was attempted, no way could she get to the guy in time. He'd be able to get a shot off and Dean's blood would be on her hands. So she stayed put, listening in silent terror as Diana tried to talk the gun away from him. It honestly made her stomach churn as the truth slowly unfolded. Pete had been at the center of it all. He had stolen heroin from lock-up, and tried to get Claire to distribute it. The two people that had been murdered were in on it, in some form or fashion. All because of this dirty cop that was now wanting Dean to take the rap for it all.

Movement clutched her body and she unconsciously began to inch closer toward Dean as Diana advanced on Pete, shooting him in the leg. A fight had ensued and Diana was knocked to the ground. But as she reached for the gun tucked against her body, Sam's hand flew out against her stomach, silently telling her not to move. She did as she was told, yet again, not wanting to do anything to risk any of them getting hurt. Thankfully a distraction had come, in the form of Claire's ghost, and before she knew it, it was all over. Pete was dead and they were all in the clear. She quickly jogged over to Dean, getting the shackles off him with a paperclip trick that John had taught her. She ignored the look of surprise on his face as she tossed the cuffs aside then stood up, extending her hand for him to take so he could get up.

The sun was beginning to rise as Diana finally turned around to look at the three of them. "Pete confessed everything to me. He screwed your cases up royally so getting them dropped should be no problem. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Dean mumbled out before adding. "But what about St. Louis?"

"I can't make that go away. But...if I happened to turn my back and you were to walk away..." As soon as the words left her lips, Chance started to tug on the back of Dean and Sam's jackets. That was their cue and she had no problems taking it. They could deal with St. Louis when the time came. But for now they needed to get the hell out of there. Once they found out where the Impala was, both boys agreed that walking was their best option. No one wanted to push their luck and Dean thankfully realized that. Turning around, she gave a small, sad smile to Diana then started to walk back toward the road. They still had the car that she'd gotten from the motel, so at least they had a way of getting back there. Climbing into the driver's seat, she sighed as Dean took the passenger seat and Sam bunched up into the backseat. "I vote we go back to the hotel, get our crap, then head to the precinct. I can always get the Impala back so neither one of you are spotted." She rationalized, looking at Sam then Dean for approval.

Dean nodded his head at her suggestion, finding it the best that they had right then since both he and Sam were still technically fugitives. "Yknow," He drawled out, looking over at Chance with a small smile on his face. "I might be convinced to let you drive. Just this once."

Rolling her eyes instantly, she huffed and threw the car into gear, heading back to the motel as Sam sat in the backseat, snickering at the entire thing.


	11. Chapter 11

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **__The first reason why this story has an M rating. If you're uncomfortable reading sex scenes, then skim this chapter._

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven:**

Dean stayed silent as he sat in the hotel room he was supposed to be sharing with Chance and Sam. Sam had disappeared a while ago, with no warning or notice. Chance had gone to take a shower, which pretty much left him to his own devices. The events from the last hunt were still fresh in his mind and kept playing over and over again, like some merciless video that just could not be shut off. He had seen the look of terror on Chance's face but hadn't been able to question her about it. Everything had been so crazy and he had been more focused on making sure they got the car back before uniforms began to look inside the interior and trunk. If that happened, he was honestly not sure if they would be able to explain themselves and keep their secret. That would just add fuel to the proveribal fire and make even more people think that it had been Dean that tortured women back in St. Louis.

Chance yawned mutely as she stepped out of the bathroom. Her mind hadn't really been working when she had disappeared to take a shower and without thinking, she had grabbed one of Dean's button down shirts instead of the clothes she usually wore to sleep in. Her entire body was screaming at her in exhaustion and after the shower, there was no way that she could ignore it as well as she had been while trying to get him and Sam back in one piece. Running both hands through her wet hair, she glanced over at Dean then instantly started to pull her shirt down as she dragged her bag onto Sam's bed and went to dig through it for clothes that would actually cover her, instead of the shirt that ended mid-thigh.

He looked up when he heard movement and swallowed thickly when he saw her in his shirt. There had been a few occasions when he had seen her in his clothing, but never like this. When they were younger, she would always steal his long-sleeved shirts to wear over whatever top she had combined with a pair of jeans. But now she was standing in the room practically naked and he found himself thinking that there wasn't nearly enough oxygen for him to survive on. Pulling his eyes from her body, which had obviously become more toned over the years, he cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes. "So...you wanna tell me what was going through your head when I saw you scared for the first time in years?"

Chance nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice, instinct forcing her to want to hide from his question. How could she answer that without enciting some kind of arguement. "I just...I guess it's been a while since I've seen you that helpless." She mumbled out as she kept her eyes on the duffel in front of her. She pulled out a tee shirt and pair of boxers then tossed the bag aside as she moved to go back into the bathroom.

Dean was on his feet in almost an instant. The conversation had been started, no way was he letting her hide in the bathroom. Plus he liked seeing this side of her, the side of her that reminded him of the fact that she was a woman. "Chance..." He started, his voice shutting off as he reached out to lightly grab her arm.

She stopped and just looked at him, the clothes in her hand hanging limply by her side. "What do you want me say, Dean?" She asked out, wanting to wince when her voice came out barely above a whisper. She swallowed hard and looked away, shifting her weight on her legs before she finally looked up at him for the first time since they'd all walked away from Diana Ballard. "I used to have dreams, about you getting hurt. And it scared me every single time because they were always so vivid. It was almost as if I was in the room, watching as a gun was pulled on you. Sometimes the trigger went off, other times it didn't. But every time it did, it..." sighing, she quickly looked away, blinking rapidly as she bit down on her lower lip.

Dean seemed to catch on and unconsciously let her arm drop. That was something that he hadn't known about. Then again, how could he? She had been dreaming about him dying countless times, and he honestly didn't know how she could carry something like that around. They were closer than most friends in the world were, even if they didn't show it all the time. "I'm fine. They were just dreams." He felt incredibly lame for saying that, but it was the only thing that he could really think to say. It was tearing at his heart, the look on her face, and he felt powerless to remove it. Chance wasn't the type of girl that smiled all of the time, but when she did, Dean knew that it was genuine by the way her eyes lit up and sparkled lightly. Her entire face seemed to change when she smiled, and it was a sight that he had seriously missed seeing. But given their lives, and the way things had progressed, he didn't really see her having a whole lot to smile about. Yet another thing that he wanted to change for her.

She stayed silent for a few seconds, mentally pulling herself back together. Sighing quietly, she tossed the clothes she was going to change into onto the bed and loosely crossed her arms across her chest. It took all Dean had to not look down at her legs when the shirt slid up her skin. "But at the time, I wasn't sure." She replied, her voice a little stronger than a few minutes ago. She looked up at him again and even managed to hold his gaze. "I didn't know what was going on with you, Dean. I didn't know if you were alive or dead. And it hurt. It hurt to have these dreams and not being able to bring myself to call you, just to see if you were all right. The door closed on our friendship and it almost killed me. You...and Sam...you were the main people in my life that I never wanted to lose and I felt like I had. And having these dreams...it was almost a way of my mind telling me just how much I had. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I closed the door as well and moved on. I met Eric and...I thought I had everything I had dreamed about as a little girl."

"But you didn't." He chimed in before he could really stop himself. He had no idea what all had gone on between her and the guy she had promised to marry. But something major must have happened since she had started wearing her ring again. A ring that he honestly wanted to destory because he hated the meaning it held. The meaning that someone else'd had her in the way he'd always secretly hoped to. He had always wanted to be the guy that gave her a normal life, the one that got to watch her adjust to an evironment that none of them had grown up in. But when he had come to the realization that it never would happen, at least for him, he had started to push her away. "I can tell, by the look on your face, that something didn't feel right."

"It didn't." She answered honestly, her hands finally falling to her sides with her confession. "Eric had no idea about my past. He would always ask me about my parents and I'd just sit there...silent as all hell. He took me to meet his folks once and I had no idea how to act around them. How messed up is that? I had no idea how a normal family worked and the entire time, I felt like an outsider, like...this person that was living a lie. He didn't know about everything that I had seen and done. He didn't know about Bobby, my parents or...you, John, and Sam. And I had no urge to tell him, because I knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it. He wouldn't be able to handle the real me, and I had promised to marry him. I had promised to spend the rest of my life with a guy that would never get to see the real side of me, the guy that..." Trailing off, she clenched her eyes shut for a second before letting out a low breath. Her eyes were still closed, her head tilted toward the floor slightly as she forced herself to go on. "The guy that I would never be able to fall completely in love with because I still cared about someone else."

Dean's eyes widened slightly at her last omission. There had been very few guys to come in and out of her life so the clueless in him had no idea who else she could have been talking about. "Who's the guy, Chance." He asked before he could force back the words. It was a question that had been hanging off the tip of his tongue for some time, and now that they were being honest and candid with each other, he finally had the courage to ask.

She started to slowly shake her head as she took a couple of steps around him, her arms winding around her stomach absently. "I can't answer that."

"Why not?" He asked, spinning on his heel to watch as she put distance between them. "Why is it that you can tell me that you dream about me dying, but yet you can't tell me why you couldn't love this guy the way you wanted to?" His voice started to rise slightly in anger and frustration. None of it was directly related to her, it all came from almost being killed and now being known as a fugitive. But she was in the line of fire and he finally wanted answers.

"Because it was you, you jackass." She blurted out without thinking, whirling around to face him. Swallowing hard, she just shook her head and looked away, hair spraying over her shoulder as she tried to get herself back under control. They had been doing good, emotions hadn't been raising moments ago, but now... Now she had finally told him one of her biggest secrets, a secret she had sworn he would never find out. But yet, there they were, her barely dressed, and him in just jeans and a tee shirt, practically staring holes into each other. "It was you!" She exclaimed again, finally realizing that she no longer had any control over the words that passed her lips. "It's always been you, Dean. Even when we were kids, you were the one that I always saw in my future. You were always the one I hoped to have a normal life with. But you never saw me that way. Goddamnit, I was raised to be like your baby sister! I was supposed to look at you as if you and Sam were my brothers. None of this was supposed to happen, Dean."

"But it did!" He shot back as he advanced on her. "You felt that way about me, but yet you went and got engaged to someone else?!"

"What else was I supposed to do?" She yelled, her cheeks starting to flush with her raised words. "You were gone. You never gave me any indication that what I was hoping for had a hope of coming true!"

"Because you kept it from me!"

"Oh don't tell me you were that clueless. Even Sam saw it and...he's Sam!" She rushed out and gestured wildly. But when her ring hit the light, she steeled up and stopped moving, not even letting herself look at him.

"So, what?" He closed the remaining distance between them, grabbing her left hand and held it up so she had to look at her finger. "Why keep wearing it, Chance? Why tell me all of this, that you loved me, but yet you're still wearing an engagement ring that another man gave you?! It's not clicking and you know it!"

"Then you've got the wrong idea." She wrenched her arm away from his, not wanting to see her ring because deep down, she knew that he was right. "I don't wear it as a way of remembering the guy that I'm supposed to be in love with! I was hiding with Eric. He gave me a shot at a normal life and I took it because I didn't have anyone else. Bobby was the only person I had aside from him."

"Then why the hell are you still wearing it, Chance? If all you keep saying is that you were just hiding with him, pretending to be a different person?!"

"Because it's a reminder, that's why!" She answered hotly, her eyes unconsciously narrowing at him. "It's a reminder of my fate. That if anyone were to get that close to me again, they'll die just like Eric did. It keeps people from wanting to get close to me."

"Well guess what, genius." He shot back before he could stop himself, his entire body rigid with held in anger. "It's not working very well for ya." The words had just barely passed his throat before his hands were on her sides, pushing her up against the nearest wall. His lips followed soon after, finally letting everything he had ever felt and thought about her pour out through the kiss. She was considerably smaller, but right then, with her body trapped against his, that didn't register. All that did register was getting her to change her mind about how she was percieving her life. She was hiding and that was one thing he had sworn he'd never let her do. He had sworn a long tiem ago that he would never let her hide from herself, life, or him. The kiss deepened considerably as he aggressively pushed his tongue past her lips. There was no ounce of restraint left in his frame and they both seemed to know it.

Shocked by his actions, her small frame stood tensed against his, her hands digging into his shoulders as if he were some sort of lifeline. But yet she stood there powerless, not being able to pull away from the searing kiss he held her in. She had secretly wanted this, to see this side of him for so long that, now that it was happening, she had no idea of what to do. But before she a second to react, he was moving. Forcing her eyes open, she swallowed hard and stayed silent, her eyes following him as he grabbed her hand and pulled the ring off. She continued to stay silent, her eyes on his face rather than his hand as he slammed the ring down on the nearest flat surface then hungrily pushed his lips against hers. This time, her hands flattened against his sides instead of his shoulders, tilting her face up slightly as his hands moved over the side of her neck, pushing hair back to touch the skin that was exposed against her shirt. Now that the ring was off her finger, she couldn't help but react to him and the sensations surging through her at a dizzying rate. She had never felt this way with anyone else, never this...alive as she felt right then, standing between him and the wall.

Dean was quickly losing control of the situation but he could have cared less. He was tired of staying in control, of battling against the things he wanted to do in favor of what he needed to do. Every since she had walked back into his life, he had seen her in a completely different light. That kept growing with the more time that they spent together, and he realized just how much she had changed from the girl he had grown up with. Chance had always been one of the only women in his life that had never been afraid of anything. She never let herself think, she only acted. But with all of the recent relevations rolling around in his head, he realized that the cause of her continuing this was because she was trying to escape the shell of the person she had become in his absence. His lips quickly left hers and started a dry trail of kisses down her jawline to her neck. Every single reaction she was giving him registered loud and clear in his mind. There was no overlooking the way her head titled slightly, or the almost muted sound that hit the air when his lips landed on her shoulder, almost right underneath the collar of his shirt. Anger was still coursing through his veins like fire, and a good portion of it was being taken out of her. But that wasn't the only reason why he had finally forced himself to kiss her. Far from it, in fact.

A light suction was created against her tanned skin, his hands creeping up behind her to yank back the shirt so that he could get to the parts of her body that he wanted. Now that he was finally letting himself feel instead of rationalize, she was driving him crazy in the worst, yet best of ways. He could easily feel every sense in his body screaming out for her as his jeans began to grow snug around his hips. He couldn't stop the progression of things right now if he wanted to. There were only two options for her to get away from him and the wall. One was her stopping him, and the other was Sam walking in. He suddenly began to wish against hope that she either stopped him, or that they could let this run its course. The muscles in his back instentaniously tightened when she moved her hands from his sides to the small of his back, pushing his tee shirt up blindly. Pulling away from her, he forced a small amount of air into his lungs as his upper body angled back enough to get the shirt off and out of the way. He didn't even bother to glance at where the fabric landed as he forced his hands away from her back to the front of the shirt she was wearing.

Chance kept her eyes on him as she leaned heavily against the wall, every single nerve ending in her body heightened and trained on him and his next move. She couldn't help but blink in surprise when he grabbed the opening in her shirt and wrenched the sides apart. Buttons went flying as he blindly pushed the fabric aside, his lips setting into action of kissing every single piece of skin that he could reach. His hips were next to angle away from her as she reached between them to unfasten and unzip his jeans. Once that was accomplished, she couldn't help but sigh quietly, her movements pausing for just a second before she leaned forward slightly to start shoving his jeans down his legs, complete with his boxers since the only thing that covered her frame was the now-buttonless shirt she had stolen from him. Dean left Chance long enough to step out of the remainder of his clothing before his arm wound around her waist, pulling her up against him as his other hand shoved the shirt down her arms and off her body. She quickly circled her legs around his thighs and dipped her head toward his shoulder. She couldn't force her hands to stop the exploration they were on of his back as she rained dry kisses over his shoulder then down to his collarbone as he turned and laid them against the nearest bed. Reaching behind her, she quickly pulled the covers back and wiggled out from underneath him long enough to lay against the pillows then silently watched as he covered her yet again. There was no way she could keep her eyes open when his lips trapped hers yet again, her fingers once again digging into his shoulders as he aggressively pushed up into her which forced her back to arch off the bed and pushed her chest up into his. She wasn't entirely sure what they were doing, or how their friendship was going to change after this night, but right then she could have cared less. All she cared about was the movement of his hips against hers, and the way his lips on hers was making her feel. They had finally reached the point where neither one of them could completely hide from the other and deep down, beneath all of the sensations and emotions he was forcing to the surface, she realized that it wasn't such a bad thing. She just hoped that at the end of things, neither one of them would look back on this and cite it as a grevious mistake.


	12. Chapter 12

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:**

Chance yawned mutely as she stretched her legs out slowly. She had ended up on her side somewhere in the middle of the night, curled up in a ball. Lifting her head as she blinked a few times to bring the room into focus, she fully sat up when she noticed Dean seated at the laptop, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. She hugged the covers to her chest as she got comfortable, not saying a word. She knew that he watched her sleep, Sam had been nice enough to clue her into that. But after the events from last night, she wasn't really sure of what to say to him. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head, and what he thought about having slept with her. She refused to let herself think that it had been a mistake. If she began to think of them having sex was a mistake, then she took everything he had made her feel for granted and she just couldn't do it. Looking around for something to pull on, she frowned lightly when she couldn't find a tee shirt that would cover her up enough to get up and move around. So instead, she just stayed where she was, pulling her legs up to her chest with only her shoulders and arms uncovered by the blankets.

Feeling eyes on him, Dean looked over and stopped when he was doing when he noticed that Chance had woken up. "I didn't mean to wake you up." He murmered, sliding out of the chair to sit on the edge of the bed next to her. A light shrug bounced off her shoulders then slacked slightly when he reached up to push hair behind her shoulder. "You didn't." She replied quietly before she glanced back to see that Sam still hadn't come back. Raising an eyebrow slightly, she started to ask where the youngest Winchester had gotten off to but was silenced when Dean's cell phone started to go off. Leaning over her, he snatched it off the bedside table and flipped the small device open. "Yeah?" He croaked out, his voice still thick with sleep even though he had been awake for close to an hour.

"Hey," Sam blurted out. "It's me. I just wanted to let you know that I'm fine. I came back to the motel but...uh...saw things I didn't really need to see so I headed out again. Wanted to see if you two lovebirds felt like grabbing some breakfast."

Dean's eyes instantly rolled as he shot Chance a dry look before focusing on his brother. "Yeah, where are you?" Once he got where Sam had ended up, he ended the call then flipped the phone over his shoulder, half-ass making sure that it landed on the mound of covers and not the floor.

"How badly did he haze you?" She asked, a small smile curving across her lips as she looped her arms around her knees. She knew what the look on his face meant. Sam had come back sometime in the night, probably noticed clothes scattered all over the floor, and tore ass.

"He just called us lovebirds." He mumbled, his shoulders bouncing up in a shrug before he leaned over, wrapping his arms around her as he turned and laid down on his back. She squeaked almost mutely in surprise and landed against him, the back of her head lightly bouncing against his chest. She gave up on the blanket hiding her naked body as she turned so that she was facing him better. "Should I start blushing now...or...?" She trailed off, stretching out 'now' and 'or' a little in an attempt to annoy him.

Grunting, he just lightly poked her side, snickering when she jumped and slapped his stomach. Deciding not to say anything, he just sat up again and rolled them over, easily manuvering her underneath him as he pinned her arms down against the mattress. "Now why you gotta hit me like that?" He asked, trying his best to look annoyed. Too bad it didn't work since, well, she was naked and he was almost there himself.

Snickering, she just shrugged and grinned up at him cutely. "Everyone needs a hobby. That's mine." Grinning a little more, she then squealed again when he leaned down and bit her shoulder three times in rapid succession. Squirming, she finally managed to get the upper hand and grabbed his shoulders. Once again, they rolled over and she grinned smugly at him as she straddled his waist, holding his wrists down near his head. "Quit. Biting. Me." She pretended to gripe, even though both of them knew that she had no reason to complain. "You're gonna leave marks and I'm gonna have to hurt you."

Dean couldn't help but grin at the thought of marks on her body. Tilting his head slightly against the mattress, his eyes danced across her side slightly as he chuckled. "Um, babe? You already have marks."

Blinking in surprise, she sat up enough to notice that a faint, handprint bruise had started to form right above her hip. Scowling at him, her eyes widened even more when he pointed out that she also had a small bruise on her neck from where he had bit her. Taking the distraction, he quickly, yet carefully tossed her off him and climbed to his feet. She bounced against the mattress a little, still scowling at him as she wrapped the blanket around her frame again.

Pulling a tee shirt on, he then stepped into a fresh pair of jeans and laughed when she covered up again. Resting his fists against the mattress, he leaned down enough so that he was eye level with her. "No use doing that. I already know what you look like naked."

Chance began to scowl at him even more but let the sheet drop. Raising up on her knees, she just shrugged and inched closer to him, smiling to herself when he straightened up. "Good cause if you keep it up? All you'll have are memories." She blurted out then flashed him a wide grin before she bit his collarbone as hard as she could. If she was going to have a mark then damnit, so was he! The scratch marks running down his back, just below his ribcage didn't count.

* * *

Sam couldn't help but snicker as he watched the look on his brother's face slowly change from to mildly amused, to utterly annoyed. Dean and Chance had finally managed to meet him for breakfast...an hour after he had first called. He wasn't stupid, he could easily see the changes in both his brother and Chance's behavior. He honestly couldn't remember ever seeing his brother act the way he was. Even with Cassie, he had still been the uptight, sarcastic bastard he always was. But he knew that not everything had changed. When they came in, they acted normally and the PDA had yet to be introduced into the room. He just had to make a mental note to grill his brother for details on just how much had changed.

Looking at the laptop in front of him, which he had been forced to remind Dean of, he frowned slightly when he noticed something that hadn't been posted earlier in the day. "You've officially got a warrent for your arrest in St. Louis, and the Feds have you in their database."

"Dude, I'm like Dillinger or something." Dean cracked, which caused Chance to shake her head slightly as she took a sip from the glass of soda in front of her.

"It's not funny." Sam blurted out, "It makes the job harder. We gotta be twice as careful now."

"Well are you in there?" Chance finally spoke up, stealing a few fries from Dean's plate as she waited for an answer. When she saw the look on his face, she had her answer, which just caused Dean to speak up again. There was no record on Sam, but yet Dean was wanted for murder. Wow the justice system was wacked all to hell. She just fell silent, leaning back in her chair as the brothers started making jabs at one another. Shaking her head, she just grinned lightly and continued to sip on her soda, listening attentively as they started to delve into their next job. However, her thoughts soon snapped when her phone started to go off in her pocket. Pulling the silver device out, she checked the number and raised an eyebrow slightly as she slid out from her seat, mumbling that she'd be right back.

Once outside, and out of earshot of the boys, she flipped the phone open and took the call. "Hello?"

"Hey...Chance." Grace Morgan's voice filtered through the phone loud and clear. Chance honestly couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to the girl on the other line, but she had a feeling that the reason for Grace's call wasn't good. She was Eric's little sister and they had all but lost touch after his death. "I know this is kind of out of the blue, and I'm sorry for that. I just didn't really know who else to call."

"What's going on?" She asked, leaning agaisnt the nearest wall as she tried to figure out the tone of her old friend's voice. "Is everything all right?"

"Not really. Um, I noticed that you weren't living in town anymore and was kind of wanting to see what you were up to." Grace was lying and she could still tell, even after all the time that had passed. Just like her brother, Grace had no idea about Chance's past, or the things that had pulled her away from the life that made her feel like she was sinking in a vat of quiksand.

"No, I...uh, went on a roadtrip with some childhood friends. What's up?"

"Is there any way that you can get back? I hate asking, but...I dunno, I could really use some company right now and Mom isn't doing so well. She never fully recovered after Eric's death, yknow?"

She sighed mentally and closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the building. That was the one thing she had been afraid of. She had finally begun to feel like she was free of her former life, but yet she was now feeling the familiar tug of being pulled back in. They talked for a little longer, and she promised to call her and let her know if she could get back to town within the next few days. Snapping her phone closed, she looked up right in time to see Sam and Dean walk out of the diner.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked almost as soon as he noticed the look on her face.

Nodding, she plastered on a weak smile, one that she knew both boys would be able to see through. "Yeah, let's just get back to the motel so we can get packed."

They silently agreed then walked back, no one really talking until they were inside and Chance was moving. Picking up her bag, she sighed and dropped it down onto the bed. But not before paushing long enough to glance at the tousled sheets while memories from hours before began to assault her. But all of that was pushed away as she turned and went to gather up her toiletries.

Dean glanced at Sam and raised an eyebrow slightly, his uneasiness coming even more into play when he watched her walk over to the dresser and pull her ring off the counter top. "Okay now I know something is definitely not okay."

Turning around, she tried to wipe the guilty look off her face as she pocketed the piece of jewelry. "You're imagining things, Dean." She mumbled and tucked hair behind her ears as she knelt down to pick up the shirt that had literally been torn off her body the night before. It went sailing and he easily caught it and stuffed it into his bag, not even looking when Sam announced that he was going to step outside. Once his brother was outside, and out of earshot, he rounded the bed and lightly grabbed her arms, turning her around to face him. "Okay talk to me, something changed when you left the diner. What's up?"

Sighing quietly, she just lifted her head and looked up at him plainly. "Eric's sister called me." She blurted out, almost wincing when she saw the look on his face. She hated bringing him up now, especially after the way they had spent last night, but he had asked.

"What'd she want?" He asked as he tried to force his voice to stay neutral. This didn't sound good and she hadn't even told him everything yet.

"She wants me to go back. His mom's sick and...something's just not right."

Shaking his head, he just dropped her hands and walked back around the bed, putting some space between them. "So you're gonna go back, act like nothing's changed and play the grieving, faithful fiance?"

"No." Chance blurted out, her eyebrows knitting together at his choice of words. "I'm going back to see if a girl I seriously used to consider to be a friend is okay. That's it. And besides, I haven't even made up my mind yet. I told her I'd call her in a few days."

Dean just nodded as he scratched at the back of his neck. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the shirt she'd thrown at him and tossed it back at her. "Then there's a souvenier from finally screwing the guy you're supposedly head-over-heels for." He sneered then picked up his bag, which never got unpacked and walked out of the motel.


	13. Chapter 13

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen:**

Chance rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat in the motel room she had rented over three days ago. She had managed to find a way back to see Grace, without Dean and Sam's help. Sam had tried to convince his brother to let her come along and drop her off where she had needed to end up, but she had stepped in to discourage him. If Dean wanted her away from him, then that was exactly what he was going to get. She had survived almost two years without him in her life, so falling back into old habits wasn't so hard. Or so she had thought. Countless times, she had caught herself either thinking about him, or picking up her phone to call him to tell him something. Those were the habits that were the hardest to break. She still had no idea what was flowing through his head, but after the altercation they had found themselves in after recieving Grace's phone call, things had become a little more clear.

She refused to let herself think about just how much things had changed, and how she no longer was able to depend on him. The first time their lives had separated, it hadn't been that hard to overcome. But after sleeping together, she found herself thinking about him more and more. And her dreams of him returned almost as soon as she had started sleeping by herself. She was just way too used to having them around, but yet she had no idea of how to fix it. Lifting her eyes when a sudden knocking at the door snapped her thoughts, first instinct was to rush to the door and throw it open in hopes of finding Dean on the other side, but that was something she had given up on. He was in Mississippi, without her, working a case with his brother. He wasn't coming for her, and he wasn't going to ask her to step back into his life.

Crossing to the door, she pulled it open, muttering out a greeting when Grace stepped into the room. The door clicked back into it's frame and she slowly turned around to face her former friend, her body clad in the shirt that Dean had thrown at her the last time they'd seen each other. No matter what, that was what she always seemed to put on. Her hands shoved into her pockets as she slowly walked further into the room, forcing herself to quit thinking about Dean as she took a seat to talk to Grace and figure out what all was going on. "How's she doing?" It was the only question that Chance could think to ask, and she wanted to kick herself for how harsh it had come out.

Grace shrugged unevenly as she took a seat on the queen sized bed that had yet to be remade. "She's getting a little better. She's started eating again so there's a little hope."

She just nodded, forcing herself to stay silent out of fear of what she would say. She was suddenly starting to feel like she had rushed back for nothing. The feeling began to press even more against her chest when she finally laid eyes on Grace. "So then why did you call me?" She couldn't bite the words back in time, wanting to know just what she had given up.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. The doctors have told us that she doesn't have much time left. She just hasn't been taking care of herself the way she should and the damage is more than evident. We still have no clue just how he died."

Hearing those words, the guilt she had tried so hard to bury came back in waves and she realized just how much she no longer fit into her former life. Clearing her throat lightly, she looked down as she lightly rubbed her hands over the legs of her jeans.

Grace noticed and raised an eyebrow slightly when she didn't see the engagement ring her brother had picked out for her. "I see you stopped wearing it."

Chance blinked and looked down at her hand before she slowly curled her fingers up and laid her fist against her chest. "Yeah, I figured it was about time to move on."

"Just how far did you move on?" She asked before she could refrain. She didn't know all aspects of her brother's relationship with the girl sitting in front of her, but she had kind of assumed, in the back of her mind, that it would take a while for Chance to take the ring off and leave it.

"Pretty far." She mumbled out then climbed to her feet and walked over to where she had dropped her bag. She stayed silent as she dug through one of the side pockets, getting what she needed before she stood in front of Grace and held the ring out. "I can't keep living in the past, Grace. It's cost me too much and I always swore, growing up, that I wouldn't do it. That's why I needed to get out of here. I needed to get away from the reminders of your brother's death being my fault." She honestly wasn't sure why she was letting the words pour out of her mouth, but it was something that needed to be said. She had to somehow get Grace to realize who she truly was. Maybe then, it wouldn't be so hard for her to walk away and not look back.

Slowly taking the ring, she just let it lay in the palm of her hand then looked up at Chance in confusion. "Wait...how is Eric's death your fault?"

"I can't really explain it." She rushed out, easing back into the chair she had taken right after Grace had shown up. "Not in a way that you can understand. But...Eric didn't know the real me. The person that I've become because of my childhood. I didn't grow up the way you two did. I didn't have a set of parents that loved me." Swallowing thickly, she didn't really give her a chance to say anything before she went on. "My mother died in a fire when I was six months old. My father died shortly after, probably from not being able to get over her, as well as a few other things. I was raised by a friend of my dad's, a guy named Bobby. And through Bobby, I met three people that have pretty much guided me through my life. Two of them were the ones that I went on the roadtrip with."

"Why couldn't you tell Eric all of this?" Grace asked, not being able to understand what Chance was saying.

"Because there's more to it than that. There's more to me...and my life. I've never been afraid of the dark because I know that there really are things that make it scary. Losing my mom, and losing my dad, as well as a close, fatherly figure, proved that. I've lost every one I have ever loved in my life, and Eric was no exception. The best..." She sighed again and dragged the back of her hand over her eyes. "The best way I can explain it is that my past reared it's ugly head and Eric was the one that had to pay for it. I was the one that found him...at the apartment he and I were sharing. I had been at work, and he was in bed, his throat slashed and blood was...everywhere."

Tears immediately began to well up in Grace's eyes as she slowly shook her head. "Why are you telling me this, Chance?"

"Because it's something you need to know. You need to realize why I can't come back here. Why I can't...why I can't just drop everything and make sure that you're okay."

"But I didn't ask..."

"I'm not saying that you did." Chance cut her off unintentionally. "But I'm no longer apart of your family. I shouldn't be. I've cost you all too much and I honestly can't live a lie anymore. I can't pretend to be someone that I'm not."

"Then who are you, really?"

"Really?" Chance asked before she shook her head slightly and slouched back in the chair. "I grew up learning how to hunt supernatural forces. Alongside Bobby, and three people by the names of John, Dean, and Sam Winchester. They were my family, the closest thing I ever got because the Winchesters suffered the same fate that I did. Their family was ripped apart the same way mine was. Only John survived losing his wife longer than my father did. I believe in ghosts and paranormal activity because I've seen it with my own two eyes. I shouldn't be telling you all of this but...here it is. This is me, the person that doesn't belong in your life anymore. I belong..." Her throat quickly constricted when she realized just what she was about to say. Chewing on her lip for a few minutes, she kept her eyes focused on her shoes as she got the rest of it out. "I belong with Dean and Sam Winchester. I belong in their lives, not yours."

* * *

Dean frowned unevenly as he drove the Impala back to the motel that he and Sam needed to check out of. They had finally unearthed what was really going on in the town of Greenwood, Mississippi, but not after Dean realized a few things himself. It was almost as if every job he and his brother worked made things even harder to deal with. He had even tried throwing himself into this job as a way of distracting himself from Chance and her disappearing act.

Sam looked over at his brother as he pulled up right in front of their room. He could easily tell that Chance leaving was affecting him pretty badly, but had no way of figuring out how to help. He could still remember the look on her face when she had climbed into a cab so that she could get to the bus station on time. Neither one of them seemed to want to admit just how much they needed each other to function. Once the engine was killed, Sam climbed out and soundlessly walked up to the door, unlocking it right as Dean came up behind him. After a few beats of silence, Sam sighed and stared at his brother blankly. "Will you just call her?"

"Call who?" Dean barked out as he grabbed his bag and began to shove his clothes into the confines.

"Chance. Yknow, the girl that you're trying really hard to forget about, but not having much luck?"

Tempted to throw something at his little brother's head, he just resisted the urge and finished packing up. "Get packed, we gotta hit the road." He mumbled out before disappearing into the bathroom to pick up discarded items that had undoubtedly been left in there. Sam just shook his head as he watched his brother then, instead of packing, walked back outside. Getting a safe enough distance away from the motel, he quickly called Chance and waited for her to pick up. But his frustration grew even more when she didn't answer and he recieved her voicemail. Shutting the phone off, he just shoved it back into his pocket and walked into the motel room. Standing in front of the door, he didn't move until Dean had noticed him.

"Thought you were packing." Dean grumbled, choosing to overlook how Sam was standing. He knew that expression all too well, he just didn't feel like dealing with stubborn Sam.

"I'm not packing until you agree to go see Chance. We don't have another gig lined up yet, and you seriously need to fix things with her. The more you avoid what's going on, the more you're putting yourself at risk. And honestly dude, I'm sick of seeing you mope after her, and tell yourself that you don't need to call her when it's obvious that you want to every time you reach for your phone. So, I'll start packing when you agree."

Dean just rolled his eyes then snatched up his bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. "Or I can just leave your ass here. Take your pick."

"Yeah, you really think you're going to be able to get the keys away from me and get outside?" Sam mused, honestly amused by the plan of action his brother seemed to be taking. But that was dropped and pushed aside when his shoulders sagged slightly. "Look, you gotta face her sooner or later. She's Bobby's daughter for crying out loud. No matter how you think you managed to get her out of your life, you didn't. She's always going to be around, and when she isn't? That's when you're going to start kicking yourself in the ass for being such a dick to her."

That last comment almost warrented a fist in the face, but Dean refrained. Sam was right, as much as he hated to admit it. Cussing fluently under his breath, he just nodded then gestured at the only other bag in the room. "Get packed. I'll humor you. Just this once though! Don't think you can start getting away with shit."

Sam just grinned and stepped away from the door as the older Winchester headed out to the car. Getting packed up in record time, they managed to sign out without any complications then got on the road. In the back of his mind, he knew that Chance would try to kill him for just showing up but he didn't really care. They needed to solve things before it was too late. That was the one guarentee in their line of work, time was not always on their side.

* * *

Chance was in a bar. Wow! Talk about a shocker there. Only not really considering that Grace was sitting right next to her. They had spent the last two days talking and Grace had actually come around and understood everything that she had kept secret from the Morgan family. She had accepted it and didn't really think it changed anything. Though if Eric had known Chance the way she did, he probably would have thought she was crazy and called off the engagement. But that was a thought better left unvoiced. She had agreed to accompany the blonde to a bar near her hotel, mainly so she could keep an eye on the girl obviously drowning everything out by a bottle.

Chance still couldn't believe that this was happening. That she was sitting around, having drinks with Eric's little sister, who knew her deep, dark secret. Though now she was starting to feel like a moron for thinking that Grace would have handled it badly in the first place. But her fear had come from a real place. She had lost countless people in the past once they saw her true personality. Her phone started to go off yet again, but she was quick to hit ignore. That caused Grace to raise an eyebrow slightly and snatch the phone up before the call could click over to voicemail. Chance just gaped at her as she accepted the call and put the phone to her ear. "Chance's phone, who's this?"

Sam blinked in surprise when he heard a voice that obviously who he had been expecting. "Uh, this is Sam. Is Chance around anywhere?"

"Yeah, but she's avoiding her phone like the plague." She answered right before his name clicked in her head. "So this is one of the infamous Winchester brothers." Chance just groaned and let her head flop onto the counter as Grace continued to talk to who she assumed was Sam since Dean would rather have died than call her.

"Ah, I was wondering why she wasn't accepting my calls." Sam mumbled out, shooting a glance at his brother before he looked back down at the table he was sitting in front of. But the more that the silence lingered, the more he started to get a weird sense of deja vue. "Can I ask where you two are?" When she told him, he instantly started to look around. Fate either loved or hated him right then for putting them all in the same bar, at the exact same time. He mumbled something out and quickly shut the phone off before she had a second to reply.

Dean looked over when he heard Sam stop talking and quirked an eyebrow slightly as he slowly walked back over to the table. "You called her, didn't you?"

He just looked up at his brother and nodded. "Yeah, I did. I knew that you wouldn't so...I did it for you."

Dean's eyes quickly rolled around in their sockets as he dropped down onto the stool he'd been sitting on before deciding to go play darts to release some frustration. "Man, you shouldn't have done that."

"Why not? You two seriously need to fix things. Are you really okay with her just stepping out of your life?" When he didn't answer, Sam could only guess what was going through the older guy's mind. He sighed and shook his head slowly, placing his arms on the table carefully since it didn't look all that sturdy. "Dude, we grew up with her. She knows us better than anyone else in our lives. And I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to her unless we have to."

"So, what Sam?" He blurted out, raising his arms slightly away from his body. "I'm supposed to just go barging in on her and demand that she rethink the decision she made? She made her choice, Sam. She chose her dead fiance's family over us. Plain and simple."

"Yeah? And how did you push her into that? Come on man, you're not the easiest person to get close to and you know it. Neither is she! Getting you two to admit that you need each other...we got a better shot of Hell freezing over."

He just rolled his eyes yet again at the words hitting him. As much as he hated it, his sibling was right. Any time things got hard, or changed in a way that he wasn't comfortable dealing with, gut reaction was to just push it all away and not deal with it. It was just how he had always done things, and habits were hard as hell to break. But when it came to Chance and her walking out of his life... That was something he wasn't really sure if he could deal with. Rubbing his face for a few seconds, he sighed and slapped his hands onto his thighs. "So now what, genius? I know you lured me back here for a reason. Next you gonna tell me that she's in this bar?"

Sam didn't say a word as he scanned the interior of the building, not being able to push away the small smile that was threatening to overtake his lips when he spotted a familiar figure at the bar. Slowly returning his eyes back onto his brother, he just shrugged innocently then gestured over at where Chance was. "Pure coincidence."

"I don't believe this." Dean mumbled but quickly got up to stop his brother when he went over to get Chance's attention. "Don't go over there!"

"Why not? Dean, it's obvious that you're already missing her and I love you but I'm sick of seeing you pissed off. And you have been. Every since she left Baltimore. Now she's right over there and either you're gonna go over there and try to talk to her, or I am. It's your choice."

Once again, he began to curse not being an only child under his breath and lightly slapped the back of Sam's head before slowly beginning to move across the bar to where Chance was seated. As he got closer, he could see the line of empty shot glasses in front of her and silently mused that this probably wasn't going to end well. But when she tried to get up and almost fell on her ass, he was quickly at her side. Picking her up bridal style, he didn't say anything as he up-nodded at the girl he assumed to be Grace. Sam was right behind him, catching the woman's attention as he turned and carried Chance out of the bar.

"Put me down." She slurred, half-ass fighting to get out of his grasp and back on her feet. Dean just shook his head and kept walking to his car. She had gotten a little heavier over the years, but she wasn't moving around enough that he was afraid he would drop her. He managed to get her into the car without any major complications, but when it came time to get her into her motel room? Therein was the problem.

"I can walk." Chance mumbled as she climbed out of the Impala, hating that his hands on her frame didn't make her skin want to crawl. The evil side of her was hoping for that reaction, cause then maybe it would be easier for her to keep herself distanced. Too bad it didn't work. Unlocking the door, she just pushed it open then walked in, kicking her shoes off before she dropped down onto her bed, her body twisting almost pretzel-style as she moved from her stomach onto her back. He glanced down at his shoes as shut the door behind him, his keys were tossed onto the nearby table. But when he heard a quiet sigh pass her lips, intermingling with a twinge of pain, his eyes landed on her as he settled into a chair. She was obviously drunk and there was no way his conscious was going to let him just walk out and leave her to her own defenses.

She turned onto her side, her back facing him as she buried her face in the scratchy comforter beneath her. One of the main reasons why she never got drunk was because it was hard to turn her thoughts off. Everything that she managed to push under the surface came boiling back up whenever alcohol loosened her tongue and attitude. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was take her rarely seen attitude out on him, but he was the source of a lot of things she kept buried. Once again, her tiny body shifted and she ended up on her stomach, turning her head so that her eyes locked on his. "Why'd you let me leave?" She mumbled out, her voice resembling that of a child's that had just gotten into trouble.

There was no catching the sigh that filtered up through his throat as he kicked his boots off, his jacket also being discarded before he moved to sit next to her on the bed. "The way I saw it, you wanted to leave me." He replied quietly, knowing better than to yell. It would just piss her off and make her even harder to handle.

Her head slowly moved in what he had learned was her way of shaking her head. "I didn't want to leave. I don't...want to leave. But we can't make both lifestyles work. We can't have normal and paranormal at the same time. It's too risky."

Forcing his lips together, he hung his head for a second before his hand unconsciously moved to the back of her thigh, lightly rubbing her jeaned leg before he got up again. "Get some sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning."

Chance shook her head slowly as she carefully sat up. "No, Dean. I want to talk about this now. What's changed? What now makes you think that you can have something with me without it interferring with everything?"

"Because..." He blurted out, slowly turning around to face her. He sighed though and looked down before he focused on her yet again. "I don't want to run away from something just because it might be dangerous. Sure, time isn't on our side. But sometimes...that's the kickstart needed."

All she could do was nod slightly as her head began to pound and she slowly laid back down against the mattress. "I'm so tired." She mumbled out, her eyes already closing as she spoke. She inched up the bed and dragged a pillow beneath the side of her face before a deep sigh filled the silent air. "Don't leave." Dean's throat constricted yet again when he heard her request, not sure if she meant for the night or permanantly. But when he heard the change in her breathing, he knew there was no way he was going to get the answer. So he just sat back down, getting as comfortable as he could as he watched her sleep. Tomorrow things would be figured out and the side of his personality that he never wanted her to see would appear. She was still in a lot of danger, sure, but he was now aware that she would be in even more danger if she stayed with him and Sam. That was the one thing he didn't want. Another thing he seemed to know with certainty was that once the sun came up, he would more than likely be gone. It was all for the best. Or at least, that was what he kept telling himself repeated as he watched her, too lost in his own thoughts to let anything other than her and her safety register.


	14. Chapter 14

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Another chapter that involves sex! I apologize now, I don't write them in every single chapter, I think there's just one more scene like this left. _

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen:**

The phrase his brother commonly used to signify his drinking habit was right. Two beers and Sam was about ready to start doing karaoke. But since he very rarely drank more than one beer, that was the excuse he always went with when it came to explaining how easily he got buzzed.

Grace was still seated next to him, obviously more enebrated than he was, but she had also been drinking harder liquor. Chance had helped her get a headstart over the youngest Winchester and she was now starting to wonder just how she was going to get out of the bar and back to her hotel. She had even said it aloud, not sure if Sam would hear her or not. But he had and when he suggested her just crashing with him at the room he got within walking distance of the bar, she readily agreed. It was safe to assume that Dean had taken Chance back to her motel, in the Impala, and would probably stay to keep an eye on her. Though, knowing his brother, clothes would not be needed in order to keep an eye on her. But all of that was pushed out of his mind as he carefully slid off the barstool and started to follow Grace out of the bar. They had managed to talk quite a bit after Chance's departure and he found himself in awe of how she acted when he and his brother weren't around. Though by the same token, he had probably given Grace more than enough ammunition to use against Chance if the time ever arose.

They managed to get back to his motel in relative silence, both really too distracted and/or drunk to try and think of anything to say. Not that Grace minded. It was weird, but Sam was really the first guy she had ever met that she didn't feel like she just had to say something. Silence could swoop in after a conversation and there was no lingering awkwardness tied with it. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket once they reached the front door of his motel room. Neither one had seen the Impala parked out front, so that was just even more proof that Dean wasn't back, and probably wouldn't be.

Getting into the motel, Grace just sighed as she slowly took her jacket off, not bothering to pick it up once it hit the floor. Sam just stood where he was, watching as she started to slowly shed clothing. Any other time and he would've been looking away to give her some semblence of privacy, but with the alcohol flowing through his system? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. He couldn't tear his eyes off her frame if he wanted to. And...he didn't really want to so he was guessing that was a good thing. But when she went to pull her shirt off, claiming that it was hot as hell in his room, he set into action. Manuvering around the bed, he quickly wound his arm around her waist and pulled her flush up against him before she even had a chance to move her shirt up an inch. Giving her a moment to react and try to pull away from him, his lips were quickly on hers when she made no move against him. The logical part of his brain had given up long ago and had he been able to think clearly, more than likely he would've been damning his brother for the influence he had. Guess there was truth to the saying that people tended to rub off on others.

All Grace could really do was just stand there, or rather lean against him as he kissed the breath out of her. Sure she had been kind of wondering what it would be like to kiss him every since he had stepped into her line of vision. But now that he was actually standing in front of her, holding her lips hostage in a heated, searing kiss, she was at a loss of what to do. But finally, her senses came back into play a bit as she broke the kiss and leaned her upper body back enough to wrench the shirt he wore off his body. Sam couldn't help but blink in surprise when the dark piece of fabric went flying but he didn't show any other concern. Following her lead, her shirt was pulled off before his lips landed on her shoulder, kissing as much flesh as he could possibly get to.

On sheer impluse, her head leaned back slightly as his kisses moved to her collarbone and caused a small sigh to escape past her lips. They barely knew each other but yet he was finding each and every possible route to drive her insane. Sliding her hands down his chest and across his stomach, she couldn't help the shivers that coursed up and down her spine. No way was she able to back away from him. If things stopped cold, it was going to be because he stepped away. But that thought quickly left her mind when he turned her around slightly then forced her back onto the bed with his body.

Sam officially had no idea what he was doing, or what was controlling his body. Whatever it was? It wasn't him and that scared him a little. But then again, he knew in the back of his mind that it was. That she had unknowingly envoked this kind of reaction from him and it had taken liquor coursing through his veins to realize that. The minute her hands landed on the fastening of his jeans, he lost what barings he had left and pulled away from her frame. Jeans and underwear were quickly dispursed before his body met hers again, her tiny frame seemingly molding perfectly against his muscular build. Never, in all of his wildest of imaginations, did he ever think he would be with another woman like this. Very much of his heart still belonged to Jess and the woman laying underneath him had no clue about the woman that had forced him back into this life. But right then, that didn't seem to matter.

All that did seem to matter was the aching sensations surging through him at an alarming rate. It had been far too long since he'd had sex but was desperately trying to stay in control. Emotions were running on high but that was no excuse to let the situation turn into something that Grace could possibly percieve as him using her. But she didn't really care. All she could clearly focus on was him and how he was making her feel. A small moan intermingled with a gasp when he pushed into her without any warning, but the moment Sam heard that sound, he stopped. Hurting her was not an option. That wasn't going to happen if he could possibly help himself. But he was quickly losing control as his hips began to move against hers, sending them both into a dizzying vortex of sheer emotion and action. For the first time in a very long time, both people weren't focused on possible consequences and reprocussions. All that seemed to matter right then was what assaulting them at every possible turn.

* * *

Chance moaned weakly as she moved around on the bed she had passed out on. Sunlight was streaming in through the window, causing her to wince and groan lightly when she rolled onto her back. Reaching for the pillow she'd been sleeping on, she quickly covered her face and lightly kicked her bare feet against the mattress.

Dean walked out from the bathroom and couldn't help the small smile crossing his features when he saw Chance hiding her face. He knew a thing or two about hangovers, but the only times he ever let himself get hideously drunk; he had ended up in bed next to a stranger. Setting down the glass of water he had grabbed for her, as well as a couple of asprin, he stayed where he was in hopes that the pillow would be removed so she could actually see him standing there. When that didn't happen, he just shook his head slightly and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains closed. "It's dark now." He blurted out, an eyebrow quirking slightly when she pulled the pillow away and looked at him as if she had never seen him before.

She managed to pull herself up into a sitting position, slowly curling her legs up Indian-style as she carefully eyed him. She was almost sure, even in a drunken stupor, that he would have been gone by the time she came around to consciousness. They hadn't left things on a good note and she was a little curious, yet scared to see what all had happened last night. Oh the joys of a drunken blackout. She couldn't remember if she had made an idiot out of herself or not. "I thought you'd be gone." She croaked out as she reached over for the asprin and water. Once that was down her throat, she downed the rest of the glass and set it aside before her body fell back onto the mattress.

He had honestly been waiting for those words to pass her lips and when they did, he slowly sank onto the edge of the bed, crooking a leg so that he could face her. "You asked me to not leave, so I stayed."

"Oh so you finally started listening to me again?" She asked without thinking, raising an eyebrow slightly. But before either one of them could get a word out, Dean's cell phone began to ring. Of course, Chance winced and turned away from the sound, which made him roll his eyes as he accepted the call from Sam. "Yeah?"

"You still with Chance?" He croaked, his voice still thick with sleep. He hadn't been awake very long, and when he had woken up, Grace was nowhere to be found. That confused him, and worried him a little. He definitely wasn't looking forward to coming face to face with her, only to find out that sleeping with him had been a mistake.

"Yeah, you at the motel?" Dean asked, glancing over at Chance when she suddenly sat up. Before another word could be muttered, Grace appeared looking more than disheveled. She hadn't planned on Dean still being at the motel she was hiding out with Chance in, and stopped dead when she saw both sets of eyes. Mumbling that he'd call his brother back, he wasn't too oblivious to notice the looks between the girls and quickly stood up. "I'll be...outside." He nodded once then slipped past the brunette near the door. Once his feet hit the pavement, he quickly let air fill his lungs as he looked around. Something had obviously happened and while he was trying to figure out what it was, there was a small part of him that wanted to know. Deciding against sticking around, he just climbed into the Impala and drove back over to his own motel. He was fully aware that his jacket was still in Chance's room, but he knew her. She wasn't going to let him leave without saying something to him. They just didn't work that way.

Chance pushed hair behind her ears as she watched Grace kick off her shoes and set her stuff down. "What happened?" She asked before she could really stop herself. She knew the woman well enough to be able to tell when something was up and something? Definitely up. She was even more convinced when her friend dropped back onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. Pushing them up into her hair, she sighed and turned her head to look at Chance. "You sure you wanna know?" Wow! What a way to start out the conversation! When the slightly younger woman nodded, Grace frowned and clenched her eyes shut. "I spent the night with Sam."

"What?" She squeaked then winced and fell back onto the bed. Clearly her hangover was a lot stronger and more present than she could have ever realized.

Grace, noticing, finally sat up and turned around to face her friend. "What about you?! Dean didn't look too happy when he left!"

Frowning, she just eyed the door, knowing he was already gone. He couldn't sneak off if he wanted to. The Impala's engine always gave him away. A thought that amused her, but not at that moment. "Nothing happened with him and don't change the subject!" She blurted out, pointing at Grace as her eyes moved back onto her. "Did you spend the night like, you two ended up in the same bed. Or you spent the night like, you climbed under the sheets naked?"

She couldn't help but gape at Chance's words. The girl had guts, that had never been something anyone could overlook. Now knowing her past history, she could see where it had come from. The girl had to be ballsy to be able to deal with the life she had. "Chance!" She flustered and hid her face in her hands. She could feel her cheeks beginning to redden, which was a surefire sign about what all had gone on between her and Sam.

Chance couldn't help but grin lightly as she watched the look on her friend's face. Yeah, there was no denying the fact that something had changed in that dynamic. "Now that I have that answer..." Trailing off, she shook her head slightly then sat up again. "Please say he was awake when you left." Grace's hands fell from her face at that and that was the only time that the dirty blonde wanted to smack her friend. "You didn't!"

"I didn't know what to say!" She blurted out, hoping that was enough of a defence. But judging by the look on Chance's face? It wasn't. "It's not like I'm going to start avoiding him! Like I said...I didn't know what to say since, hi! I was drunk last night."

"But were you drunk enough that, had you been sober, you wouldn't have slept with him?"

Grace had to think about that for a second, but only because she had seen the look in his eyes. There was no mistaking the glimpse of sadness in his eyes once everything was said and done. She could tell something major was on his shoulders, and she was kind of scared to know what it was. But she wanted to know. She also wanted to try and talk to him before they left town. She just had to. There was no way that she could just leave things the way they were. She couldn't really explain it but there was no getting away from the uneasy feeling she had that, if they did leave things this way, things would get worse before they got better.


	15. Chapter 15

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

**Chapter Fifteen:**

Everyone was surprisingly silent as Chance and Grace lay on their separate beds, watching television. It was the last day before Dean and Sam headed back out on the road, but for some reason; neither girl could bring themselves to call the boys. It was weird, but the tension was unavoidable. Dean had yet to call Chance to get her to talk to him about what she had said the night he watched over her. As for Sam? He had been hiding within himself every since that same night, still no closer to what he wanted to say to Grace now, than when he had woken up in an empty room. It was just all one big mess and no one involved really knew where to start when it came to fixing things. On top of that, Chance was battling a headache, one that Grace kept voicing her hopes on that it was still from the hangover that had knocked her on her ass for two days. It was times like this when she realized just how much she had stopped drinking since Dean had left her life.

But when her vision started to blur, she closed her eyes and rubbed them. The show on TV wasn't interesting her anyway and was actually starting to lull her to sleep. Not fighting it, she just turned onto her side and closed her eyes. But she didn't stay that way for very long.

Grace instantly looked up when she heard inaudlible sounds passing her friend's lips. She had been so absorbed in the show that she didn't even know Chance had fallen asleep. But when the other woman started to wince and cringe in her sleep, she sat up and watched her a little more closely.

There was no mistaking the scream that shot out of Chance like a bullet from a gun. Grace was on her feet in no time flat, easily vaulting over her friend's legs as she tried to wake her up. But by the time her hands landed on the blonde's shoulders, Chance was up and flattening her back against the mattress, one hand flattened over her eyes. "Talk to me." Grace blurted out, her voice laced with deep-seeded concern. She had never seen her friend like this before and honestly had no clue what was going on.

Chance felt like her head was going to explode. She could still see the images that had begun to haunt her in her sleep, and now that she was sure of what was going on with herself, she knew that this meant something. Something huge. Pushing her hand up against her forehead, she winced when she tried to open her eyes and straightened up as best as she could, gesturing at her phone. "Call Dean." She mumbled out, her head dipping lower when the pain from her headache wouldn't let up.

Grace was back on her feet in seconds flat, grabbing her friend's phone. When she found the number she needed, she quickly hit send before the device was shoved up against her ear.

Dean managed to pull himself from Sam's side when his cell phone started to go off. Sam was practically in the same boat as Chance, having just been woken up by dreams of images that were more than likely going to come true. Whenever his brother had a nightmare, it just reminded him even more of what they all had in store. "Yeah?" He answered, both of his eyes still trained on his baby brother, but flickered away when he heard Grace's voice. She was rushing through her words and he could barely understand her. But when she said something about nightmares and a searing headache, Dean knew exactly what she was talking about. "Is there any way that you can get her here?" He asked before he could stop himself, but when Sam started to shake his head and climb off the bed, the older Winchester quickly announced that they were going to them and ended the call.

Chance stayed silent as Dean paced in front of her. Grace and Sam were seated on the bed next to her while she had an entire bed to herself. The room was way too quiet and it was starting to grate on her nerves. Finally pulling her hands from her temples, she let them slap against the mattress underneath her. "Okay someone. Say. Something!" She blurted out, causing Dean stop cold and three sets of eyes focus on her.

"What do you want us to say?" Dean blurted out and concentrated solely on her. It was freaking him out, the girl he loved and his brother were having the same visions, about the same place in Oregon and he had no idea of what to say or do.

"Anything!" She mumbled helplessly, flailing her arms slightly yet again. "That's a start." She went on, hating how helpless he looked. But in spite of herself, she shook her head and started to climb off the bed. Dean couldn't help but watch as she pulled her jeans higher up on her frame before looking away when she went to grab her duffel bag. "What are you doing, Chance?"

She stopped and just looked at him before her eyes flickered onto Grace then Sam before returning to him. "We have to go to Oregon. Something's obviously happening or else Sam and I wouldn't be dreaming about it. And it obviously has something to do with Yellow Eyes. I want to find out what it is so that maybe these damn dreams stop." When the words stopped spilling past her lips, she sighed and rubbed her forehead again before she finally acknowledged the awkwardness between her friends. Shaking her head slightly, she just walked over and grabbed the front of Dean's shirt, grateful that she had decided to put shoes on as she dragged him outside.

"What the hell?" He blurted out, honestly stunned by her sudden choice of movement. She didn't answer him until they were outside and the door had clicked closed behind them. "What was the dragging act about?" He asked which caused her turn finally turn around and face him. Too bad he wasn't ready for the look on her face, or the way she folded her arms across her chest.

"They have some issues to work through and we didn't need to be in he room." She answered bluntly then turned and put some space between them. Dean had to hand it to her, as usual, she was putting people ahead of herself. In this case, she was focusing on getting Grace and Sam to talk about what was going on between them instead of diving head-first into the tension that was between her and Dean. He slowly began to follow her but stopped when he reached the trunk of his car and leaned back against it, his hands instantly burrowing into the pockets of his jeans. He still hadn't been able to fully get over the urge to reach out and touch her yet, which was a major reason why he didn't trust himself whenever they were alone. Chance noticed it but swallowed back the temptation to ask him what was going on. She honestly was trying to keep from starting up a conversation that could possibly end up making things even harder to deal with. They had a job to do and no way was she going to let them go off to Oregon on their own.

Dean didn't seem to have the same kind of self-restraint that she was displaying. And almost against his will, he brought up the subject of two nights ago. "What did you mean when you told me that you didn't want me to leave?"

She sighed and bowed her head slightly before she slowly turned on her heel to look at him, her covered arms looking tangled against her chest as she fidgeted. "I didn't want to be alone. You know how I get when I'm drunk." She rationalized, hoping he bought that instead of forcing her to expell what was really in her head. "What did you mean when you said that we could have both? That we could have normal and...paranormal."

"Cause I honestly think that we can. I don't have to keep secrets from you and you don't keep secrets from me. We know each other inside and out, Chance." He admitted then straightened up and reached out to grab her arms when she started to turn away. His touch on her arms was light as he kept her facing him, even bending his knees slightly to fully be able to look her in the eye. "There's always been something there, I realize that now. It just...took me a little while because I was so consumed by the job. But honestly? I'm tired. I'm tired of always seeing all the bad crap in this world. Maybe..." He sighed and trailed off, licking his lips lightly before he forced himself to continue on. "Maybe I'm finally ready to hold on to something good."

"You know all we do is fight." She mumbled out, hating the look she probably had on her face. But he found it adorable. She looked like a puppy that had just been scolded for peeing on the carpet. It was a rare opportunity, to see this expression on her features.

"Yeah," He nodded then shrugged unevenly before a crooked, cocky little grin graced his own features. "But at least the sex is hot."

She instantly rolled her eyes and pushed him away from her lightly as she turned away. "Jeez, you sleep with a guy once..."

Dean couldn't help but grin as he grabbed her again and pulled her flush up against him. Not even giving her a second to respond, he quickly pressed his lips to hers. She was the one good thing that had come out of his father's death and he wasn't about to start taking her for granted the way he had taken his father's presence for granted.

Inside, Grace and Sam seemed to be having a harder time expressing themselves. A wall had unknowingly been put up and neither one knew how to get over it. So Sam did the only thing he could think to do. Act brazenly and speak bluntly. "Why didn't you stay?"

Grace blinked and quickly looked over at him at that question. She had honestly been wondering when it would hit the air, but she was still surprised when it finally did. "I...didn't know what to say or how to act." She answered quietly, yet honestly.

Sam nodded then raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why? Were you afraid I was going to say it was a mistake or something?" When she nodded, he frowned lightly and leaned his arms on his knees.

She noticed the way he moved and kicked herself mentally for how she had answered his question. "Sam...when we were together, I saw something that I've never seen before in my life." She began quietly, her eyes surprisingly staying locked on him. "I saw sadness. Like you saw us being together as some sort of crime against someone. So I started to overreact when it hit me the next morning and I just...I didn't want you to have to deal with me."

When her words hit his ears, it took him a second to formulate how to respond. Her statements were ringing in his ears and that was something he honestly could have done without. "What you saw...it wasn't me regretting what had happened." He honestly had no idea how to tell her everything that he had been forced to overcome. Sure, she knew about them and about the real reason why her brother died, but how was he going to tell the girl that he had willingly slept with about the girl that he had wanted to marry? "Chance isn't the only one that has lost someone she was romantic with to this demon." He felt like an ass for wording it that way, but he wanted to make damn sure that she understood what was about to come out into the open. That he was about to talk to her about someone that he still couldn't really talk to his brother about. "I had a girlfriend, I met her shortly after I went off to school. I was so desperate to be normal, I needed to be normal and I didn't care what it cost me. I lost contact with my father and I stopped calling Dean. I didn't find out until later that they were still checking up on me. But at the time, I didn't know. I started having these...dreams. About her dying."

As soon as he said that, things started to click in Grace's head and she slowly climbed to her feet. "Your girlfriend died the same way that Eric did? For the same reasons?" She asked before she could force the words back. All of this honestly scared the hell out of her but she had asked. In a weird sort of way, she needed to know what she had gotten herself into by accepting Chance Adams into her life. When Sam nodded and looked up at her, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. He was on his feet in the blink of an eye, facing her as he got the rest out. "It's like...I dunno. It kinda feels like we're cursed. Chance and me. There's something major going on and we're targets. This demon...the one that took our moms and Jess and Eric...it doesn't want us getting to close to people, or finding love because that interferes with it's plans."

The nausea brewing in her stomach grew even more noticable as she listened to him. There was still a small part of her that thought they were all absolutely nuts. She had so desperately wanted to believe that her brother's death had just been a random act of violence. But it hadn't been. She had lost her brother because of Chance and the fact that something really strange was going on with her. Something that had always been attached to her, and always would be. There was also another part of her that was angry at the young woman. She had begun to rationalize it all in her head. If Chance had just told them...if she had just been honest, maybe all of this could have been prevented. But she was dimly aware of the little voice in her mind telling her just how wrong she was. "Your girlfriend...she didn't know, did she?"

Sam shook his head and let his hands drop from her shoulders. "No, like I said, I was so desperate to be normal that I couldn't tell her. I chose to overlook the signs and not do anything. It cost me in a big way. But with Chance...and your brother... She didn't know what was going on. She's just like me, she wanted that normalcy so bad that letting that part of herself out, it was like admitting defeat in a way. She didn't know that the nightmares she was having were coming true, or had the possibility of coming true. Your brother dying...I hate to say it, but that was something none of us could have expected."

Grace just seemed to nod as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest and finally looked up at him. "And this guy in Oregon? The people you're supposed to go help, they'll die if you don't. So..." Clearing her throat, she let her arms drop before laying them on his chest lightly. "You need to go save them. And you need to take Chance with you, make sure nothing happens to her."

"But what about you?" He asked, his hands moving to her sides almost unconsciously. He didn't want to think about leaving her behind, but he knew that she would be in too much danger if she went with them and that was a risk that he was just not willing to take.

"I'll be here." She answered and smiled up at him lightly. "You're not getting rid of me, I promise. We just...have to wait until the time is right and the danger isn't so high."

"I don't know how long that'll take."

A small shrug bounced off her shoulders before she leaned up and lightly kissed his lips. Pulling back, she lightly rubbed his cheek then settled back to her full height. "Good things come to those who wait. You just gotta promise that you aren't gonna forget me or something."

Sam smiled and laughed lightly as he shook his head then pulled her up against his chest in a tight hug. There was no way that he would ever be able to forget Grace Morgan. She had given him the final piece of closure that he had been so desperately seeking. She was okay with who he really was and was even willing to wait for him to be able to be with her the way he wanted. The way she deserved. He was going to pull her back into his life, that was something he was sure of. And he knew that once Chance found out what had just transpired, there was no way she was going to let her friends end up any other way than together.


	16. Chapter 16

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen:**

Dean rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked around at his new surroundings. The three of them; him, Sam, and Chance had ended up in River Grove, Oregon and things were looking a lot more hellacious than anyone of them had realized. A weird virus was going around and had infected pretty much everyone in the small community. Sam had been the one to find a single word carved into the telephone poll outside the place they were now currently holed up in. Croatoan. A word that chilled him to his very core. The phones weren't working, cells had no signal, and the citizens infected were making sure that this virus did its job and wiped out everyone in the town.

"What are we gonna do?" Chance asked, mainly to herself as she stood next to Dean. Every since they had shown up in town, there wasn't a time when she wasn't standing right next to him. The only time they had been separated was when they had found the first virus victim, then later when he had tried to go get help in the neighboring town. The only thing that had resulted from that was throwing a guy away from his car and showing back up with another survivor.

"I honestly have no clue." He mumbled out, his voice matching hers in almost perfect pitch. To be honest, all of this scared the shit out of him. A demonic virus? One that Sam and Chance had been dreaming about. This was more than likely going to be the reason why he had killed a guy in their dreams. Shaking his head slightly, he finally looked over at her and noticed the look on her face. It took a lot to freak her out, but this was pretty high on the list. But he also knew her well enough to know that if anyone tried to attack her, they'd probably end up with their asses handed to him. Reaching out, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her up against his side before kissing the top of his head. "We're gonna figure this out."

She just nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a light squeeze before she tilted her head up to look at him. "Okay but uh, no laughing at me when I have to kick some ass." She nodded once then leaned up and kissed his cheek before she moved to walk back into the clinic. She hated looking outside and not seeing anyone there. Things had been virtually normal when they had first come into town, but all spiraled out of control in no time flat. That was what was freaking her out the most; how fast this damn thing was spreading.

"Dean!" His name left her lips in a loud rush when she saw movement coming from the exam room they had left Beverly Tanner, the most recently infected vicitim in. He was behind her in a second, both making it into the room just in time to see Sam and the guy Dean had brought back, Sarge, looking through a door. She stayed silent and just listened to everyone talking, but quickly found her voice. "How long has she been like that?" When no one answered, she just looked over at Sam, who told her that she'd attacked the doc without so much as a warning. But when Sarge announced that the longer they left her in there, infected, the stronger she got. They were also racing time since the longer she was left alone, the harder it would be to take her down.

Looking back at Dean, she just cleared her throat lightly and then motioned for Sam to open the door. "I'll do it." She announced quietly when it was finally vocalized that they would need to kill her. Reaching behind her, she pulled the gun from against the small of her back and walked toward the door. She didn't mind facing danger, it seemed easier for her to do it than Sam or Dean. Then again, she wasn't really thinking clearly and the Winchester standing behind her was fully aware of that.

"No way are you going in alone." He mumbled out, pulling out his own gun as he practically flattened his chest up against her back. He had been deathly serious when he promised that nothing was going to happen to her. He'd die before someone hurt her. Chance unconsciously sucked in a breath as the door opened and she managed to slip inside, yanking it shut before anyone else could come in. There was no mistaking the fluent cuss words flowing from Dean, who had started to bang on the door that wouldn't budge. Sarge had no problem letting her be in there alone, it was Sam and Dean that were doing all the protesting. But she ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed on Beverly, who sat in the corner of the room bawling. She honestly looked like she had no idea what was going on, why she had been locked up in the confines of such a small space. But Chance refused to let herself have doubt. Doubt would get her hurt and she was locked in with no help. Suddenly her bright little plan wasn't looking so brilliant.

"Please, just let me out of here." The woman continued to sob as Chance slowly inched toward her, the gun held out in front of her and aimed at her chest. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it has to be this way." She found herself speaking before she could stop herself, hating the fact that the gun was starting to waver in her hands slightly. "Things are going on that are beyond your control, beyond mine. I don't have the time to stand here and explain it all to you. Just know...I'm sorry."

That just seemed to cause the woman to cry even harder but before Chance had even a second to retaliate, the woman was on her feet and shoved her back. Swearing loudly when her head bounced off the wall behind her, another sharp cry passed her lips when Beverly's nails managed to tear skin away from her naked forearm. She braced herself and managed to push the woman away, getting two shots off before Beverly Tanner collapsed on top of her.

Dean was the first one in the room, practically yanking the body off Chance and easily hauled her up to her feet. "You okay?" He barked out, both his eyes and hands reaching out to search for some kind of wound; any possible way that she could have gotten infected. Pulling away from him before he could see the claw marks on her arm, she just ducked her head and manuvered out of the room. Her stomach was churning and all she could clearly think about doing was throwing up. She refused to give herself that kind of satisfaction. She didn't stop moving until she once again stood in front of the door, putting her gun away before she finally got a good look at her arm. Blood was more than evident. Her arm was coated with it and she could no longer tell what color her shirt was. Cringing visibly, she jumped slightly when Dean came up behind her.

"You okay?" He asked, right before she rushed out that he had just scared the crap outta her. Noticing the front of her shirt, he pulled it away from her stomach for a second before his eyes flickered onto her arm. "Did she break skin?" When she didn't answer, the question rushed past his lips again; this time a little more harsh.

"I don't know." She blurted out and looked at him before she held her arms out slightly. "I'm covered in blood, Dean. I don't know if it's mine or hers."

Dean sighed and hung his head slightly before he straightened up and lightly grabbed her uninjured arm. "Let's get you cleaned up."

She just nodded and started to follow him but stopped when a sudden thought hit her. "Dean," She mumbled out, her eyes surprisingly locking on him as he stopped and turned around to face her. "If I'm infected, I don't want you to hesitate to shoot me."

"Chance..." He blurted out, instantly shaking his head. But he couldn't get anything out before she started talking again. "I mean it. No hesitating, no thinking that I could possibly not be infected. I show the signs, pull the trigger."

"No." He retorted, his grip on her arm tightening slightly. "I'm not going to put a bullet through you. It's not happening, so stop asking, Chance." He practically growled the last part out then dragged her into a vacant room. All she could do was follow him, too stunned by his sudden change in demenor. After stepping foot in the vacant room, she remained silent as he pulled his jacket off and tossed it aside. The only movement she made was when she instinctively started to back away, only to stop when he ripped her shirt open then yanked it down her arms. "Jackass." She blurted out, glaring up at him as he used the balled up fabric to wipe the blood off her arms and chest.

"I'll buy you another one." He mumbled out, tossing the destroyed shirt aside before he took off the flannel he wore over a black tee shirt and held it out for her. "Wear that, it'll hide your arm. This stays between us." He determined as he pulled his jacket back on. He had seen the long, jagged scratches on her arm and knew there was no real way that she had gotten away from that woman without any kind of blood to blood contact. He was just forcing himself to stay positive. They weren't like most people on the planet, so maybe...hopefully, she wouldn't end up going psycho on them.

Once she had the shirt on and buttoned up, she licked her lips lightly then resituated the gun against the small of her back. He noticed and couldn't help but snicker. It died out when he saw the look on her face though. "Hate you for this habit by the way." She did her best to grumble the words out, but didn't succeed very well as she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Sam was the first one she saw, almost wincing when she saw the look on his face. It probably looked bad that she had come in wearing her own shirt, but was now practically drowning in Dean's. "You okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow slightly when he noticed his brother's shirt on her body.

"Yeah," She nodded and pulled hair off the back of her neck before she let it fall against her back. "Beverly...bled all over my shirt." She mumbled out then slipped past him, disappearing right as Dean came into his line of vision. "She okay?" He asked, knowing by the look on his brother's face that Chance had just lied to him.

He was silent for a few seconds, mainly to make sure that no one was listening before he dropped his voice enough so that only Sam could hear him. "I think she got infected. Beverly got her pretty good on the arm and I couldn't get inside the room in time to make sure the bitch didn't fall on her. We'll just...have to wait and see, I guess." All Sam could really do was nod as he watched the older Winchester walk over to Chance and wrap his arm around her shoulders from behind. There was no mistaking what they had going, and began to hope like hell that everyone in the room would be able to get through this in one piece.

* * *

Chance yawned almost mutely as she sat in the corner of the 'main' exam room, curled up with her head back against the wall. It had been almost four hours since Beverly Tanner had sliced open her arm and she wasn't sure what to think. There was no way that she could have possibly not been infected but yet, she was showing no signs of the virus. The doc was running her bloodwork almost hourly, thankfully when no one else was in the room. Last thing in the world she wanted to do was have everyone in the building demand she get a bullet in the chest. Hearing commotion just outside the room she was in, she quickly pushed up to her feet just in time to see a new guy entering the building. Dean had his gun on him and ordering that he be tied up. Rubbing her temples, she winced slightly when flashes of the visions that had brought them here came back. It was all happening. Just the way she had dreamed it. She finally had confirmation that she had a lasting tie to the demon that had destroyed her family and that made her feel even sicker than she had felt after shooting Beverly. Slowly walking up behind the sarge, she turned her head slightly to listen as Sam and Dean pulled back a little to talk.

Sam had just barely gotten out the words that he was the guy from the visions before he was pushing people out of the way to get to the guy. She was slightly quicker than Sam, managing to get in front of him and push him back at least a little. "Dean, wait!" She yelled, her voice being so loud that it forced everyone to stop. Raking a hand through her hair, she just angled his shirt over her frame before looking at the guy she could only assume was Duane. "You need to remember right damn now if anyone has bled on you." When the guy didn't say anything, Dean started to advance on him again. "Dean, quit!" She yelled out again, blinking in surprise that he thought it was a bad idea for them to wait for the guy to go demonic instead of ending his life right then and now.

"Oh, so what makes him different from me?" She blurted out before she could stop herself, her eyes dark with fury. "Dean, we don't even know if he's come in contact with anyone carrying the virus. People are clutsy, they're stupid and they trip! Nine times out of ten, skin gets broken during a fall."

"Hey!" Duane yelled out, frowning at her.

"Want your life saved or not?" She shot back, turning her head to look at him. She just refused to look at anyone else. She knew the looks on their faces. She was possibly infected and it was now just a matter of time until they started turning the guns on her.

Dean just shook his head slightly as he looked at Duane then down at Chance. "I'm not risking it. You've almost been infected once already. I'm not risking everyone else in here too."

Shaking her head, she just pushed him back as hard as she could before moving into the room she had previously been in before Duane had shown up. This was going to be one hell of a long night, she could already see it now. The worst part of all was the lingering fear that she could possibly still be infected by a demonic virus that had no damn cure.


	17. Chapter 17

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The final chapter requiring the M rating! _

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen:**

Chance stared blankly out the window, practically stretched out across the entire backseat of the Impala. They had finally been able to live through the hell that had been River Grove, Oregon. But she still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had, deep down. It kept springing up just when she thought she had it gone. The worst time, and the reason why she still couldn't shake it had come from a look Dean had in his eyes. Sam had just been infected with the virus, but both of their bloodworks were coming up clean. It was only after that when it was realized that the virus was leaving the blood of everyone that had been tested for the infection. There were no signs of the damn thing anywhere, and she couldn't ignore the look on Dean's face when everything was out in the open. He was hiding something and she could tell, even moreso now after this job than before.

Dean was surprisingly silent in the front seat of the Impala, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and River Grove. They didn't get too far out of town when he pulled over and demanded that he needed a drink. A six pack of beer had been purchased at a nearby convience store and they settled next to the river that separated River Grove from a neighboring town. Chance settled on the trunk of the car, facing the guys as she sipped on the beer in her hands. She was still dressed in Dean's flannel shirt, and jeans that she could now see were stained with blood. Blood from the woman that she thought had gotten her infected. But she was immune and that scared the hell out of her. She could no longer deny that in some weird way, she and Sam had just been tested by the demon. Cringing visibly, Dean noticed but decided against saying anything. He was wrestling with the words John had left him with even more now, but he still had no idea how to tell the two of them what was possibly in store. But before he could think against it, the words just seemed to pour past his lips. "Dad told me something...at the time I thought it was just about Sam, but now I guess it goes for the both of you."

Sam blinked in surprise when the uneasy silence was broken, not even looking away from his older sibling when Chance climbed off the trunk and walked closer. "What did he say?" She asked before the younger Winchester could even think about getting words out.

He managed to get the words out that he needed to watch out for both of them, but when his sibling told him that what he had just said wasn't really news, he forced himself to go on. "He said that I have to...save you. Both of you." He revealed, his eyes flickering from Sam onto Chance. She was definitely in this now and the words he was about to expose made him feel even more nauseated than when he had first been told. "I was told that I have to save you, that nothing else mattered. And if I couldn't save you..."

"Couldn't save me what?" Sam blurted out, frowning a little more when he realized that the way he had worded that, completely pushed Chance out of the conversation. But she stayed rooted where she was, turning away when he explained that he might have to kill them. The beer in her hand was set aside as she went to lean on the trunk of the Impala, dimly aware of the words flowing between the brothers. If she couldn't be saved...then she'd have to be killed. Saved from what? That was the thing she wanted to know. That was what was going to haunt her the most, along with the look that had been on his face when she told him that if she had been infected, she wanted him to shoot her without thinking twice. Shaking her head slightly when her stomach began to churn even more, she just pushed away from the car and walked down the bank a little ways from Sam and Dean. Landing on her knees, she didn't have a second to let the new position register before she started to heave.

Dean had just barely been able to get through pleading with Sam to let them lay low and figure things out when he saw Chance fall to her knees. Both guys were at her side in an instant, one kneeling on either side of her as she continued to get sick in the grass. Once she was sure that there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up, she fought in vain to get her frame to quick shaking violently. That was the thing she hated the most when it came to being sick, her head hurt and all she wanted to do was just lay down and forget all of this was happening. But there was no escaping it and she didn't have the energy right then to even think about trying. "What did John say you have to save us from?" She asked, her voice just as shaky as her body.

Swallowing thickly, he just glanced up at the taller man on her other side and rubbed her back lightly. "He didn't say."

"Great." She mumbled out dryly, nodding as she looked up at the lake then slowly started to climb to her feet. Sam and Dean rose when she did, both guys making sure that she didn't end up falling due to how unsteady she looked.

"Let's just lay low for a little while, okay? At least until we can figure out how to go about getting some kind of answers. Someone has to know what's going on , right? We're not the only ones involved in all this."

"You mean we're not the only ones on the verge of becoming evil." Chance mumbled before she could stop herself. She wasn't sure if it was possible, but she suddenly felt very disconnected from the guy that was leading her back to the car and into the backseat. No one said anything and she didn't fight as she laid back on the seat, clenching her eyes shut in hopes that her surroundings stopped looking like a spinning top. They got into the car once she had been secured in the back, no one saying anything until they reached a motel that was far enough away to calm them all down at least a little bit. After getting checked in, Dean and Sam fought a little more as Chance stripped down to the flannel shirt she had on and climbed under the covers. Her mind was just too cluttered for her to even hope for sleep, but yet she lay there, listening as the boys exchanged heated words. Sam was officially convinced that Dean was now waiting around for them both to go darkside, but before she could shut either one of them up, Sam declared that he needed air and disappeared outside. Turning onto her back, she watched as Dean sank onto the edge of the bed, staying there for a minute before he leaned over to pull his boots off. Sitting up slowly, she looked up at him when he got up and pulled his shirt off, followed by his jeans. "You're not going to go after him?" She questioned quietly.

He stopped and shook his head slowly as he glanced at the door. "He just needs some time to clear his head. He'll probably be back in before we know it."

She nodded and laid back against the mattress, staying where she was as he moved to lay down next to her. She was a little suprised when he reached out and pulled her up against his side. She obliged, quickly curling up against him as she laid her head on his chest. "This is definitley one of those days when I wish we could just go back to being kids." She mumbled out quietly. She honestly missed those days, when they clowned around and joked around; even with the world going on around them. It was like, back in that time, it didn't touch them nearly as much as it did now. John was still around in those times, and she still felt like Bobby's daughter.

"If it helps any, me too. I never told you this but...the last hunt you and I went on before we all separated, when it was all said and done, I couldn't sleep. You and I had our own room and Dad was convinced that both beds wouldn't be used." She couldn't help but snicker as she nodded, easily remembering how she had not wanted to sleep by herself that night. He always brought her comfort, even back then when neither one of them fully realized it. He smiled lightly then cleared his throat unconsciously as he rubbed her back lightly. "I stayed up that entire night and just watched you sleep. You didn't get that far from me and every since then, I've always wondered..."

"Why I couldn't let there be distance?" She asked when he trailed off, turning her head so that she could look at him. He nodded as she rested her chin on his chest, his hand still moving across her back in slow, soothing motions. "Because you're the only one that's been able to keep the monsters away." She revealed without hestation.

Dean swallowed thickly as his eyes moved over every contour and shadow being thrown across her face. He had never seen this coming, to want to be with someone as much as he wanted to be with her. He thought that he had found that in Cassie, but things had gotten way too damaged for them to be able to make anything rise from the ashes of their failed relationship. But Chance had been in his life for a very long time and he had never really been able to see going a lengthy amount of time without some kind of contact with her. Staying silent for a few minutes, he carefully leaned up and pressed his lips to hers.

She couldn't help but sigh quietly when his lips landed on hers and brought her hand up to rest on his cheek. Taking the opportunity of her movement, he slowly leaned up and laid over her as the kiss deepened a little more. Sure, they had been with other people before, but no one had ever really succeeded in making her feel like she was being kissed for the very first time. The same held true for Dean and he had no idea where it had come from or what had caused it. But that was just the dynamic that was them. They worked when nothing else in their world seemed to be. Moving over her carefully, her arms slowly wound around his neck as his hand slid up her thigh, causing a light sheen of goosebumps to break out across her skin. His hand moved a little higher up her leg before moving across her hip to her stomach. She couldn't help but snicker at his touch, having always been ticklish and broke the kiss that was leaving her a little breathless. His eyes stayed locked on hers as he blindly moved his hands up to start unbuttoning her shirt. There was something vastly different this time from the first time they had been together. The urgency for each other was still present, sure. But now, he felt like he needed to prove that he wasn't going anywhere instead of somehow staking his claim over her body. It was an archaic thought, but when he managed to get her shirt open, he couldn't really think clearly. Pressing a light kiss to her lips, Chance leaned her head back slightly when his lips landed on the skin just above her breasts. All of the anxiety and apprehension she had been carrying around in earlier hours seemed to fade from her body as he kissed as much skin as he could possibly get to, every once in a while succeeding in emitting a small sigh from her.

Kissing back up her body once he had reached the waistband of her panties, he moved and sat up, carefully pulling her up with him. She loosened her grip around his neck fully when he pushed the shirt off her shoulders, pushing it aside before she started to rain kisses all along his bare shoulders and neck. Tilting his head back slightly, he pulled her into his lap as his hands swept down her back. Her own hands slid across his shoulderblades as she kissed up his neck, nipping at his earlobe before she leaned back enough to look at him. He hissed when her teeth made contact with his ear but the sound quickly died out as he manuvered one hand up into the back of her hair and pulled her into another slow, yet deep kiss. It amazed him that he was still in no rush to speed things up and remove the rest of her clothing, but yet he wasn't. She was the first woman to make him stop and actually pay attention to every line and curve that made up her body. With anyone else, it was all about the gratification and nothing else.

She honestly couldn't remember a time when this much attention had been paid to her. Sure, their first time had been beyond mind-blowing, but this was a side she had never seen before. And she knew, just by his movements, that this was a side he had never let anyone see. But a small amount of impatience seized her and she slowly climbed out of his lap to remove the last barrier she had. He seemed to follow her actions, removing his boxers before pulling her into his lap yet again. Air seemed to catch in her throat as their eyes locked. Hovering over him for what felt like an eternity, but was only a few seconds, she unconsciously bit down on her lower lip as she slowly slid onto him. A low groan filtered past his lips as she started to slowly angle her hips against his, letting her move whichever way she wanted. She had complete control and that was yet another first for both of them. Her movements became a little more forceful when his lips landed on her shoulder, alternating between kissing and biting at the skin. Regaining at least a little control, he lightly gripped her waist and pushed her up slightly before letting her fall back against him. His movements caught her slightly offguard and she opened her eyes as she realized the pace he was trying to set. Gripping his shoulders, once again, her lower lip migrated between her teeth as she carried the manuver on her own, not even bothering to hold back when her hips began to drop faster than she had originally started out. Seeing the look on his face, the way he was holding her protectively against her, was enough to drive her insane in the best of ways and the friction igniting between their bodies just pushed her even further. Emotions were still raised from the fiasco in River Grove, then later down at the river, but none of it seemed to be registering. All she could feel and think about was him. Every single nerve ending in her body was trained on him, on holding out just a little longer. But after what seemed like an eternity of their hands roaming over skin as their bodies continued to crash into each other, her body tensed up as her release hit her. Dean was only seconds behind her, a noticable groan filling the air as he pushed his hips up into hers one final time.

Practically panting for air, she didn't dare move away from him as she slowly pushed hair off her forehead and neck. He helped, lightly running his hands across the sides of her throat before words he never thought he'd say passed his lips. "I love you." He mumbled out, his eyes on her as his words registered.

Falling still, she just leaned back slightly to look at him clearly. Her heart was sufficently up in her throat at his confession and the words were right on the tip of her tongue, ready to return the statement. But for some reason, something was holding her back. Lightly running her fingers over the back of his neck, she mentally fought with herself before her voice registered. "I love you too."

"We'll get through this." He rushed out quietly, still holding her upright against his body. Even though his back was screaming at him in pain, he didn't dare move. He was oddly enjoying the intimacy of the moment too much to end it. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I'll die before that happens."

Tears started to well up in her eyes but she just blinked them away, doing the only thing she could think to do. Kissing him, she just kept her lips pressed against his as her silent way of telling him that she knew he would do everything in his power to protect her. Grudgingly moving away from him, she picked up his boxers and the shirt he'd given her to wear the day before and held his boxers out to him. "In case Sam comes back." She mumbled out, offering him a small smile before she slid the shirt on and buttoned it up. Once at least a small layer of clothing was set in place, Chance curled up on her side as Dean lay in front of her, her head safely nestled in his chest. If being connected to this damn demon was the price she had to pay for having him in her life, she was willing to pay it. She trusted him, and more importantly, she trusted herself. No way was she going to give up the life she had going for her if she could possibly help it. She'd kill herself before that happened.


	18. Chapter 18

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Dean yawned and slowly pulled his head up off the pillow he'd been sleeping on. Looking around, he noticed that he was alone in the bed and quickly got up to see why. Chance had been right up against him the entire night and her sudden disappearance didn't sit well with him. He had no idea what time it was or how long they had been asleep, but he knew better than to ignore the hole forming in the pit of his stomach. Hearing movement in the bathroom, he vaulted off the bed and walked over to investigate. He pushed the door open and peered inside, concern nagging at him even more when he saw Chance curled up between the wall and bathtub, her face hidden from view. Kneeling down beside her, he lightly touched her shoulder and let it slide to her side. "Look at me." He mumbled out, the feeling in his stomach growing even more when he finally got a good look at her face.

Tears were streaming down her face and she was squinting against the overhead light. "Sam's in trouble." She mumbled out, not letting her voice get any higher than it was because of the pounding in her head. She had been sleeping peacefully for a while until dreams...visions of Sam getting killed pulled her from the safety net that Dean had created around her.

"What did you see?" He didn't even need to ask her if she'd had a nightmare. He knew just by the way she was acting.

"He...walked into a rundown house." She started out, her voice getting weaker with every word. "There was...a tripwire I think and...Dean, someone set a trap for him and he walked right into it. I saw him get thrown, I saw the bomb go off and him get killed."

He was on his feet almost as soon as the words left her mouth. Carefully pulling her up, he made sure that she was steady before he started to move them out of the room. They had just reached the bed when when his cell phone started to go off. She lowered herself onto the edge of the mattress as he reached for the device and flicked it open. "Yeah?"

"Dean? It's Ellen." He looked over at her when he heard the older woman's voice. "Sam was here, I don't know what's going on with you two but he told me not to tell you where he went."

"So then why are you calling?" He asked before he could stop himself. Chance looked terrified in front of him. He wanted to focus on her, not the woman that was wasting his time by not telling him where his brother was.

"I say to hell with giving him space. What's family for if not to be there for each other? I just wanted to let you know that he's in Lafayette, Indiana."

"Thanks." He said about two seconds before ending the call. Tossing the phone aside, he knelt down in front of Chance. "You okay enough to get packed and out to the car?" When she nodded, he straightened up slightly and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "That's my girl. Come on, we gotta go." She just nodded then set into action, pulling her jeans and shoes on blindly before focusing on getting her bag and herself out to the car. She would have time to regroup in the car, they just had to get to Sam before her vision came true.

* * *

Chance wasn't the only one having visions about Sam dying in an explosion. A girl by the name of Ava Wilson had been woken up with them and managed to get to Sam before Dean and Chance could. That had been a few hours ago. In the course of that time, she had helped him steal the confidental psych files of a guy that was like the both of them. A guy that had been stabbed in the parking lot of his therapist's office. Glancing at the tape recorder in between them, he just sighed and looked up at the brunette as the voice of the young guy and the man Ava had to force into believing that she needed an apointment talked about the yellow-eyed demon.

Chance looked over as Dean slowed the car down in front of the motel they'd been told was Sam's. Craning her neck to see, she let a low breath filter passed her lips when Sam appeared in the window of the sliding glass doors. He moved though and revealed Ava, causing Chance's eyebrow to raise slightly.

"You sly dog." Dean grinned but instantly frowned when she slapped his shoulder. Hard. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't encourage him."

"He can't even hear me!"

"That's not the point. I can hear you." She mumbled out, still a little irritable from having been woken up the way she had. She hadn't even been able to grab a shower before all of this started happening and that was what drove her nuts the most.

He just rolled his eyes and pushed the car back into life, wanting to get out of sight before Sam saw them and ruined their little element of surprise. They didn't get far away from the motel room when shots began to ring out through the air; bullets flying right into the room that they had just been looking at.

More shots continued to ring out through Gordon's gun as he lay on the building across the street from where Sam had holed up. The two weren't exactly strangers, but now he wasn't trying to be the other guy's friend. He was trying to take him out.

Quickly parking the car, Dean heard the shots first. "Go!" Chance blurted out, knowing that the easiest way for him to work was if he knew for sure that she was safe. She knew when to play it smart and to inject her help when they didn't want it. But now was not one of those times.

"Get in the backseat." He ordered, "Anyone comes up to the car, get out. We'll get the car back later." She nodded, letting him kiss her roughly before he climbed out of the car. Doing as she was told, she flattened out on the back floorboard and waited, hoping like hell that whoever was shooting off a gun would seriously get kicked in the head. But when the sounds stopped, she quickly climbed out of the car, pulling her gun from the back of her jeans as she jogged into the building. Making it up to the roof in record time, she ducked out of sight instantly when she saw Dean practically pummelling the guy that had been trying to shoot his brother. But when Gordon managed to get the upper hand, nausea started to once again settle in the pit of her stomach but she couldn't look away as the guy shoved the butt of his rifle into Dean's face, causing him to go down and stay down. She ducked even further out of sight as Gordon stood up and inspected the blood practically pouring past his lips. She had to hand it to him, Dean knew how to lay a guy out when it came to his family being fucked with. It took everything she had not to move when she saw the rest of the little scene unfold. Gordon picked him up and threw him over his shoulder then grabbed his gun and disappeared into the building. Pushing away from the wall once she was sure that enough time had passed, she didn't get too far when she saw Sam come up on the roof. "Chance?! What the hell..."

"It was his idea!" She blurted out then looked over at Ava. "Who're you?"

"Chance!" Sam barked right as she was being told who the girl was.

"Sorry." She started to fidget, shooting Ava an apologetic look before she focused on Sam again. "Okay, you seriously need to tell me who the fuck just tried to sniper you. Cause whoever it is, he has Dean and I'm pretty sure he's the one that's gonna make you go boom."

Ava couldn't help the look of confusion that passed across her features when she heard the blonde's words. "Wait...how did you know that?"

She glanced over at the taller man when he started to walk away from him and just shook her head slightly before a look of confusion washed over her own features. "How did you?"

"Cause I dreamt about it."

"Oh, goodie." She mumbled dryly and ran a hand through her hair. "I won't be the only chick going psycho." Before the conversation could go any futher, Sam announced that he had just found a shell casing.

"These are .223 caliber subsonic rounds." He announced, fully catching Chance's attention as she walked over to get a better look at the casing. "The guy must have put a suppressor on the rifle." He sighed then stood up just as Ava started to gape at his knowledge of ammunition. She just stood there, a little amused by his answer then looked around before glancing at Sam again, her hand staying locked in her hair. "Call Dean."

He just nodded and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. The last thing he wanted to do was pull Chance into a possible trap even more than she already was. No one really knew she existed, or that she was connected in this crazy ass turn of events. He was going to keep it that way for as long as humanly possible.

Chance managed to stay silent as he went through the call, only saying something when she noticed the look on his face. "What'd he say?"

"He's definitely in trouble." He announced, glancing at Ava before he looked at her. "He mentioned funkytown."

"Means he's got a gun on him." She blurted out then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "What do we do now?"

"I go get Dean. Ava goes back home and you stay out of sight."

"What?!" Both girls exclaimed at the exact same time, but only Chance kept talking. "No way in hell am I going to let you go be Mr Badass. I wanna piece of the asshole that took shots at you and took off with Dean."

He just frowned, knowing there was no way he was going to get through to the blonde standing in front of him then looked at Ava. "I'm serious about wanting you to go home. You've done all you can here, you need to go back to your fiance."

That caused Chance to look up and over at the girl. Noticing the ring, she quickly started to nod her head. "Yeah, I gotta agree with Sam. We can take care of this, you just need to go back and take care of him."

Sam noticed how hard it was for her to be saying what she did, but he did have to hand it to her. She had more strength than any of them could have ever expected she would. Ava finally agreed then the three of them headed down to the cars. Chance slid in behind the wheel of the Impala while Sam made sure that Ava got into her car. Once she had driven off, after making him promise that he would call and let her know he was okay, he climbed into the passenger side and looked at the woman he now considered to be his brother's girlfriend. "You okay?"

Shaking her head slightly, she just brought the car to life, silently praising Dean for leaving the keys in the ignition and pulled away from the motel. "I'll answer that when we get Dean back and you're not about to walk into a trap." She mumbled out then glanced over at him. "PS? I'm kicking your ass for pulling this little disappearing act."

Rolling his eyes, he just started to grumble as she angled the car in the direction of the address Dean had given him. Chance had officially been around Dean way too much since she was now adopting more of his attitude when it came to dealing with Sam.


	19. Chapter 19

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen:**

Chance licked her lips lightly as she sat out in the darken Impala. Why she had agreed to stay behind while Sam went after Dean, she didn't know. But she had and now she was seriously starting to kick herself. Keeping her eyes on the house, she didn't move until two explosions sounded in rapid succession. Practically flying out of the car, she managed to make it into the house as Sam lured Gordon into another part of what was left of the house. Seeing him, gagged and tied to a chair, he quickly started to wiggle when she walked over and knelt down beside him. "You okay?" She rushed out as she worked on the rope around his left wrist. He nodded and got his right one untied before pulling the gag from his mouth. "Sam?" He rushed out, intentionally keeping his voice quiet so that Gordon wouldn't hear them and target her too.

"He's okay." She whispered, helping him to his feet right as Sam reappeared. Pulling away from her, he silently made sure his brother was okay then moved to walk in the direction of where Gordon had disappeared to. "Son of a..."

"No!" Sam and Chance blurted out at the same time but due to distance, his brother was able to stop him before he got any further away from the chair he had just been tied to.

"I let him live once, I'm not making the same mistake again." He practically growled, causing Chance to jump slightly at the emotion in his voice. Something she hadn't heard since they were a lot younger.

"Trust me, he's taken care of." Sam admitted, but that didn't appease her. Walking into the room, she just idly chewed on her lower lip as she studied the unconscious figure on the floor. Pulling her gun from the waist of her jeans, she raised it up slightly, only to have Dean come up behind her and push her arm back down. She looked over at him, a hardened, yet expressionless look on her face.

"Sam's right, that's not the answer." He mumbled out even though he could fully understand why she wanted to put a bullet between the asshole's eyes.

"He tried to kill Sam. He tied you to a freakin' chair and made you think he was dead!" She rushed out through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry but the asshole deserves to pay."

"And he will. But we gotta get outta here, before someone realizes what's gone on and we get busted."

Realizing that he was right, she just sighed and let her shoulders slump, which gave him the opportunity to get the gun out of her hand. Not saying a word, she just followed the brothers out of the house, but when Gordon appeared behind them, shooting off guns from both of his hands, everything changed.

"You call this taken care of?!" Dean yelled out as he grabbed Chance and pulled her in front of him, pushing her into the wooded area right in front of the house. They both managed to make it past the trees then over a little embankment as the taller man advanced on them, still shooting.

"What are we waiting on?" She asked out before the older Winchester could but when they heard sirens and tires squealing, she got her answer.

Blocked in from both sides, all Gordon could do was hold his hands up as cops started to swarm him, yelling that he needed to drop his weapon.

"Annonomous tip." Sam revealed with a smile, which caused Chance to snicker and Dean to shake his head. "You're a fine, upstanding citizen, Sam."

* * *

Sam and Chance remained silent as they watched Dean pace around in front of them. They had just barely reached the hotel before Dean officially flew off the handle. Calling Ellen, he demanded to know who had ratted out Sam, but was a little grateful that the woman had yet to recieve information that Chance was a "special" one too. But Sam knew better. She had been standing right beside him when Ash had drawn up a list of all the kids that had lost their mother's in a house fire in 1983. Her name had been on the list, right after Sam's and that caused a look of concern to cross Ellen's features. They had met only once and that had been back when Jo decided she wanted to accompany them on the hunt for H. H. Holmes' ghost and nearly got herself killed.

Sighing in frustration, he just flipped the phone shut and tossed it onto the bed before his body followed the same route. Tilting his head when he heard movement, he fell silent as Sam climbed to his feet and dialed Ava's number. He had been trying to reach her every since they had gotten Gordon arrested but she had yet to answer. That surprised the hell out of him since she had been so adamant about him calling her to make sure that they were all okay.

"What's up?" Chance asked when she noticed the look on his face.

"Ava. She's not answering her phone. She...wanted me to call her to let her know that we're okay." When she nodded, Dean sat up and frowned noticably. "Dude, you're calling her again?"

"He's determined," She blurted out, turning her head to look at him but her focus shifted back when Sam when he reached her voicemail. Taking that as a signal that he hadn't picked up, Dean lightly slapped his hands against his knees when Sam asked what was next.

"One word: Amsterdam." That caused looks of confusion from both people before being prompted to explain.

"I just think we need a break! Come on, it's a thankless job. We don't get paid, we sure as hell don't get thanked." But before he could go on, Sam was calling Ava once again. Dean just rolled his eyes yet again and flopped back, only making a sound when Chance reached over and lightly slapped his stomach. "He's calling her again! If I didn't know better, I'd think he was sweet on her or something."

"Remember Grace?" Chance shot out right before Sam announced that she was engaged. But when he still recieved no answer, he managed to talk the pair into getting into the car. He didn't have a good feeling about this and just wanted to go and check on her.

Getting to Peoria in a short amount of time, Dean sighed as he pulled up in front of Ava's house and killed the engine. Climbing out, Chance stayed behind the boys as they quietly broke into her house. "Adding this to the list." She mumbled out then stuck her tongue out at Dean when he shot her a dirty look. They called out for the girl, but got no response.

"Okay, I'm starting to get deja vue." She announced quietly as she followed them in the direction of the bedroom. But when she saw what lay just beyond the doorframe, her stomach instantly jerked at what she saw. It was as if she was seeing the exact same thing all over again. But instead of it being Eric, laying in a pool of his own blood, it was who she could only assume was Ava's fiance.

Noticing the look on her face, Dean's heart lurched and he forced himself to look away from her as they walked further into the room. She stayed rooted in place, her eyes fixed hollowly on the bed and the dead body. If she hadn't believed that Ava was now involved in this whole thing, then this was showing her first hand. Even more so when Dean announced that there was sulpher on the window. But when Sam picked something up off the floor, she swallowed thickly when she saw the girl's engagement ring. Almost on instinct, her mind began to run with worst-case senarios. She wished like hell that they weren't flowing through her mind but yet, they were. Either the demon had come in, killed the guy in bed and took Ava; or somehow convinced her to do it all on her own. "I'm...I need air." She mumbled out then disappeared out sight. Dean hung his head slightly then looked over at his brother. "Do you know anything that she needs to?" When the younger Winchester nodded his head, Dean just swore under his breath and pushed himself up to his full height. "We need to get out of here. The cops are gonna be here soon and...well, we gotta figure out what's going on."

Sam nodded and followed his brother out of the house. They found Chance leaning against the car, staring out into space blankly. Noticing the look on her face, Sam climbed into the car as Dean walked up in front of her and laid his hands on her shoulders. "What's going through your head?"

"She could have done that." She mumbled out, not being able to let herself look up at him. "There's a very real possibility that she went darkside and killed him."

"We don't know that."

"Dean!" She exclaimed and looked up at him, her eyes naked of any kind of defence. He could clearly see the fear in her eyes and that caused his own stomach to lurch. "Up until she started dreaming about Sam, she was normal. Her mother didn't die in a house fire and she was only having the nightmares. What the hell is going on?! Why is this happening to us?" When he didn't say anything, she just shook her head and clamped her teeth down on her lower lip as she looked away yet again. "I'll be damned if I live through this a third time." Swallowing thickly, he just let his hands drop from her shoulders as she turned and slid into the backseat of the car. Staying where he was for a few minutes, he tried to clear his head enough to drive before moving in behind the wheel. Things were going to get a hell of a lot worse before they got better, and all he could think to do was hope that he didn't lose his family in the process.

No one said a word as Dean sat behind the wheel. Everyone was pretty much in agreement that they wanted as far out of Indiana as possible and he was happy to oblige. He knew that sleep was going to be hard to accomplish after everything that had happened. He still had the image of Chance's face after they left Ava's house and he couldn't shake it, or the words that were ringing in his ears. He hated to admit it, but the things his brother and girlfriend were facing scared the hell out of him. How did a person go from sweet-natured and innocent to a bonafied killer? That was the one thing he couldn't understand about all of this, but he was willing to wait as long as need-be to recieve that answer.

"I still don't understand why all of this is happening." Chance blurted out, her quiet voice breaking the silence that had fallen in the car. The brothers exchanged a glance, which caused her curiosity to rise even higher. Sitting up, she leaned against the back of their seat and studied Dean's profile for a second before she started to stare a hole into Sam. "What aren't you two telling me?"

"I...I disappeared to find answers." He admitted in a quiet rush, knowing he would have to go on when he saw the look on her face. "I wanted to know what was going on, why we had been targeted and what could possibly send us spiraling into the darkside."

"Well?" She blurted out then waved her hand slightly. "Spill Lanky."

Rolling his eyes when Dean snickered at her nickname, he fell silent for a few minutes before he launched into the explaination that he had been dreading. It was through Scott Carey's personal files that he was able to gain more insight. A war was coming and everything was about to change. As for the people that the demon had targeted, him, Chance, Ava...they were being positioned in as the soldiers in this war.

Her stomach lurched when he finished filling her in and she quickly demanded that Dean pull over. Knowing better than to argue with her, he just manuvered the car off onto the side of the road and let her get out. But instead of him following her, it was Sam that climbed out to kneel beside her as she got sick on the sloping embankment. "Chance, I don't understand it either. I have no idea how much things are going to change. How..."

"How we're going to go from fighting the good fight to killing people like Dean?" She mumbled out weakly, wiping her mouth off with the back of her covered hand as she looked at him. "We have no idea what's coming or what's going to happen." She rushed out, finally letting everything come up to the surface. Everything that she had been keeping under lock and key just seemed to explode from her as she sat leaning over the edge of the road. "This...thing is able to come into our dreams. Tell us to do things and Sam..." She trailed off and shook her head violently a few times before she sat up, moving to sit on her ass as she stared at him. "What's gonna happen when the demon realizes that I'm getting close to yet another person that could possibly be standing in it's way? I'm not going to be the reason either one of you get killed. I'm not. I'll shoot myself before that happens. But the thought...the thought of possibly hurting you or Dean, it's scaring the hell out of me and I don't know how to handle it!"

"We're going to get through this, okay?" Sam blurted out, reaching out to lightly rub her shoulder as she started to slowly shake her head. "I'm scared too, okay? I want to move on with my life, see if something's there with Grace but with all of this..."

"No." She cut him off and shook her head once before staring at him. "Maybe that's how the demon gets to us. It...forces us to be alone so that no one is there to reign us back in. I could be talking crazy but, hell, I don't know." She sighed and shook her head as she slowly climbed to her feet, only saying another word after Sam had risen to his feet too. "I refuse to give Dean up, and I'm not letting you give Grace up. This thing has taken enough from us. I have to believe that we're going to kill the bastard and maybe, possibly, be able to move on with our lives without this hanging over our heads. It's the only thing keeping me sane right now."

All he could really do was nod at what she had said then slowly followed her to the car. Maybe she was right. Maybe that was how they kept their leverage against the demon. Keeping the people they loved and cared about was their only possible shot against winning this battle that was about to start raging. But one thing Sam knew for certain, he was going to fight like hell to make sure that Dean, Chance, and Grace got through this unharmed. He just hoped that at the end, he would be able to stand with them as well.


	20. Chapter 20

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty:**

Chance idly chewed on her lower lip as she lay in bed, curled up on her side. Sam was asleep in the bed next to hers while Dean was on the computer, researching their latest job. Every since they had left Indiana, she couldn't get her mind to clear. She had no clue what was coming and that freaked her out beyond belief. But she had been scarily serious when she told Sam that there was no way she was giving Dean up. It probably wasn't fair, but at least he knew the risks. Or at least, she hoped so. Sitting up slowly, she turned and watched him for a few minutes. She honestly couldn't imagine her life without him. He had kept her safe so many times that she hadn't been able to keep track of it all. Their history was extensive, and troubled, but it was their history. Climbing out from underneath the warm blankets, she just tugged on the shirt she had worn to bed, one of Dean's tee shirts; and slid into the chair next to him.

Noticing movement out of the corner of his eyes, he stopped what he was doing and laid his hand on her raised knee once she had gotten comfortable. "Can't sleep?"

"No, and I'm guessing you can't either." She smiled weakly and gestured at the computer before her hand fell on top of his. "Dean, I have to ask you something."

"Okay." He stretched the word out slightly and angled his body to fully face her, giving her his undivided attention. The job they were currently on could wait if it meant that talking to her would give her some kind of peace of mind. She looked beyond worn out and he didn't know if he'd have the strength to handle everything that was on her shoulders.

"Why do you want to be with me?" She asked before she could stop herself. It was a question that had been nagging at her every since things had begun to unfold in Oregon. "Why...why are you willing to risk your life, just to be with me?"

He couldn't force back the sigh that escaped his throat as he motioned for her to get up. Once she was on her feet, he carefully pulled her into his lap and secured his arms around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he sighed again and tried to figure out just what to say. "I know that things look bad, and yeah, I have to be honest. This...the possibility of you turning evil scares me. I don't want to think about possibly having to kill you."

"But there's a strong possibility that I'll try to kill you." She squeaked out, mentally kicking herself as she turned slightly in his lap to look at him better. He leaned back against the chair and raked a hand through his short hair before letting it rest on her thigh. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. Hell, I could die the next time we go after a nasty spirit. Or I could lose you to some psycho that doesn't believe he's done anything wrong. Nothing is certain. And because of that, I don't have any certainty in your possible destiny. You know I don't believe in that stuff."

"But yet you've been talking about wanting to quit hunting."

"Because it's costing us so much. Our parents are dead, countless other people have been killed. Where's all this hunting getting us?"

"But think about the people that we have saved!" She rushed out, moving to straddle his legs as she laid her hands on the sides of his throat. "Detective Ballard, putting Claire Becker's spirit to rest. And you've saved countless other people that I know nothing about! I know it's a hell of a fight, but knowing that people like you...and Sam exist, that makes it easier for me to sleep at night."

"But you aren't sleeping at night." He shot out before he could stop himself.

She just eyed him then shrugged unevenly. "That's just cause I know you personally. Whole other can of worms." She joked, slapping a hand over her mouth when he grabbed her side lightly. Swatting his hand away, she just stuck her tongue out at him then got serious again. "Are you sure that you want to keep doing...this? Even with the fears you have about me going demonic?"

"Yeah, I do." He answered with absolutely no hesitation.

"But..."

"No." He shook his head fiercely then leaned up and pressed a hard kiss to her lips to further silence her. Once he was sure that she had melted just enough to relent, he pulled away and reached up, smoothing hair back against her skull. "I told you that we're going to get through this and I mean that. I'm not burying my feelings for you just cause some crazy ass demon has a thing for you."

Rolling her eyes at his choice of words, she just lightly poked his stomach and moved to get up. But she got about as far as blinking in surprise before she was sitting on his thighs again. Pouting at him, she opened her mouth to say something but quickly thought against it when she saw the look on his face. "I also meant it when I said that I love you. I'm not giving that up without one hell of a fight."

That caused a small smile to cross her features before she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his wound around her waist, pulling her up against him as he deepened the kiss. But before things could get heated, due to the fact that Sam was sleeping not too far away, she grudgingly pulled away and looked at him, lightly tracing his lower lip with her index finger. "I love you too. And I just needed to hear that, I guess." When she realized what she had just said, she whimpered and let her head flop onto his shoulder. "You're turning me into a freakin' girl, dude!" She whined out quietly, not being able to keep from snickering when he started to laugh quietly.

* * *

How the hell she had gotten talked into this, she had no idea. The job had taken an...interesting turn when the guy they were investigating had taken a strange facination to Chance. He came from a very wealthy family out of Georgia and had only caught their interest when the people around him kept mysteriously dying. No one could explain it, or how all of the women in his life had seemed to turn up with their throats slit. But it fit a pattern and that was good enough to convince the Winchesters that something wasn't right. It hadn't even entered either one of their minds to use her as bait, but when Matthew Douglas became enamored with her, they just agreed to see where things went. He had invited her to a formal party held at his house, where all of the murders had occured and she had accepted, but only under one condition. Both Sam and Dean had been extended invitations so she didn't feel as exploited when she learned how she would have to dress.

Now standing in the dingy bathroom of the motel they'd had since arriving in Georgia, she frowned at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was once again blonde and pulled up into a mess of tightly pinned curls. A few strands fell against her neck and the side of her face, holding a small curl. For the first time in a long time, make-up made her complection look nearly flawless as a black, strapless gown adorned her frame. "Can't believe I'm doing this." She mumbled out then snatched up the small purse she was taking with her. She had made damn sure it was big enough to subtly hold a gun and had thrown in a few things that Grace had told her needed to be in every woman's purse. She had tried to convince her friend to join them for the event, but work restricted her from getting to leave. Chance just suggested she quit but got laughed at and figured that she didn't need to say that again. So as usual, she was flying solo in the feminine department.

Dean frowned at his reflection in the mirror connected to the dresser as he fought with the tie around his neck. He hated suits more than most of the things they hunted, but if doning the monkey suit meant that he could keep an eye on Chance, it was something he was willing to suffer through. Sam stood right beside him, successfully getting his tie done before both guys turned to look at her when she came out of the bathroom.

Looking up, she blew out a low breath as she held her hands out slightly. "Verdict?" She asked humorlessly, even turning slightly. This was the first time they had ever really seen her this dressed up and Sam was more than a little amused by the expression on his brother's face. All Dean could really do was just stare at her as he slowly walked over. The dress hugged her in all the right areas, and he couldn't help but stare at the small amount of cleavage that she had going on.

Noticing where his gaze had landed, she just rolled her eyes lightly and smacked his arm. "Perv." She joked, pretending to eye him before she walked over to the dresser to grab the final piece of her outfit. Securing the pendant around her throat, she smiled up at Sam when he declared that he thought she looked beautiful and kissed her cheek. Dean just continued to fumble over his words as they all got ready to leave the motel. Chance couldn't help but be amused as she started to climb into the backseat of the Impala but was a little surprised when the brothers stopped her. Sam was feeling nice and figured that she should sit up front given her dress and the fact that it dragged a little. Once they were all situated in the car, Dean unconsciously grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly, finally being able to clearly tell her that she did look beautiful.

They had been at the party for close to an hour and Chance was already ready to leave. The dress was starting to get uncomfortable and she hated the fact that she was in it and that everyone kept staring at her. Once they had arrived, she was instantly pulled from Dean and Sam's side and escorted around as some sort of trophy on the arm of Matthew Douglas. She wanted to kick him for that but she just put a trained smile on her face and let things play out the way they needed to. They had a job to do and she couldn't let personal emotions cloud her judgement and the fact that she was now considered bait.

All of the women that had been murdered had some sort of connection to Matthew. She was starting to learn that he was known around the community as a bit of a playboy and that the girls had been killed as a result. There was also no mistaking the air of tension that hung around her. Jumping slightly when Dean suddenly appeared at her side, she pretended to frown and dragged him into a vacant room. "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah," He nodded, also doing his best to remain professional. But it was hard since the guy was practically drooling on his girlfriend. "The house definitely has an air of EMF. Sam tested around up here and I think this is where all of the murders had taken place.

She just nodded and started to frown slightly when an unsettling feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach. For some reason that she couldn't explain, things weren't going to end well and she couldn't shake that feeling. "Okay so we just have to keep our eyes open for whatever is offing these girls." She mumbled right before he suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

Grudgingly pulling away mere seconds after his lips touched hers, she shot him a dirty look but froze when she noticed that they were no longer the only two in the room. A figure had appeared at the door, a figure that didn't look too pleased to see her in the room with Dean. The woman had on a long, antique ball gown on, her graying hair disheveled against her decayed skin. "Dean." She mumbled out, grabbing his shoulder when he turned around and saw the woman too then pulled her behind him.

The woman, who had been Angelica Douglas during the years of her life, just smiled at the couple and slowly advanced on them. "You're missing the party." If her appearance hadn't scared them before, her voice and the way it was carrying syllables into the air was chilling. Everything they had learned about her couldn't possibly prepare them for getting locked in a room with her. She was the murdered wife of Matthew Douglas, a woman hell-bent on the revenge of whatever woman caught her husband's eye. They had gotten into an altercation years before, and after accusing her of being unfaithful with no proof, he killed her in cold blood. He had ended up being the adulterer and Chance could safely assume that was enough to turn the once sweet woman into a murderous spirit.

"He was just leaving, weren't you?" She asked, staring pointly at him. She didn't want him in the room but knew that, given this woman's history; she went after the females involved, not the males. Hence her husband still being very much alive. But before anyone could move, the room suddenly filled with outside light and the spirit vanished when Matthew appeared. "Everything all right?" He drawled out in his Southern twang, his eyes languidly darting from Chance to Dean and back.

"Peachy." Dean blurted out and flashed a million-watt grin before he started to move toward the door. "Just wanted to make sure you were showing her the attention she deserves. And now that's she's officially made me sick with all her gushing, she's all yours once again."

Resisting the urge to kick the hell out of him, she just turned her fake-as-hell smile onto Matthew and glided up to him, sliding her arm through his. "I think you promised me a dance and haven't delivered yet. Why don't we go fix that?" When Matthew smiled and kissed the hand that had dropped onto his arm, he just shot Dean a look that clearly screamed he had won and led her from the room.

Grumbling, he waited a few minutes so that he wouldn't go and beat the guy senseless before he returned to the party in search of Sam. Catching him near where the food had been set up, he slapped his arm and gestured at Chance, who was out on the floor looking way too cozy with the asshole of the hour. "We gotta find out where this chick is buried, get her salted and burned before I kick his ass."

Sam just snickered and nodded then the two left the party. Dean made sure that a text was sent to the phone in her bag, letting her know what they were leaving to do. Yeah, he didn't really feel like getting his ass kicked just cause he didn't tell her why he had pretty much left her to her own defences.


	21. Chapter 21

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

After Sam and Dean left the party, things had taken a dangerous turn. Chance had figured that she could hold her own against whatever happened as the boys went to take care of the woman's remains, but what followed their departure was something she hadn't expected. Matthew had declared that he was sick of the party and asked if she wanted to continue the festivities elsewhere. She had obliged only to give the guys more time and followed him to a room that didn't look lived in, but yet had furniture anyway. Everything that had happened after that was a blur due to the glass of champagne she had been forced to drink. Lifting her head slightly from the bed, she couldn't help but groan as she looked around. She was still in the room, her dress lay in a pile on the floor. All at once, a sickening feeling washed over her and she was forced back onto the mattress. Blankets covered her body from view but she didn't need to look at her naked frame to know what had happened. This was how the victims had never been able to fight back and it was almost as if he played right into his dead wife's hands.

Forcing herself to regain her barings, she reached out for her purse and cussed loudly when she saw that it was gone. As were her only ways of protecting herself. The only things in her purse that she actually cared about was her gun and her cell phone. Her link to Sam and Dean since they had left the party almost hours before. She forced herself to sit up and shook her head slightly when the room threatened to start spinning. Cussing Matthew Douglas fluently in her mind, she had just reached for her gown when Angelica's ghost reappeared. "I told you that you should have stayed at the party." She warned hollowly, a knife glittering in her hand.

She swallowed thickly and clutched the blanket to her chest even tighter. "I know what he did to you." She blurted out, not being able to stop the words as they practically poured past her lips. She had to talk the spirit onto her side or there was no way in hell that she was getting out of this room alive. "I know that he accused you of cheating on him when you didn't."

"Matthew is the only man I've ever been with, yes. But he never could say the same to me. Even before we were married." She replied, slowly advancing on the bed that Chance couldn't get out of.

"But why kill all of those women? What did they do to you?"

"They slept with him!" She roared out, the knife in her hand shaking slightly. She blinked and shrank back into the bed, her throat constricting so much that she couldn't force anything out. "Or at least, that's what I thought they were doing." She went on, twisting her body slightly as a child would dancing to some muted melody. "I just tried to warn them. I won't get my revenge by slitting their throats."

"You want to go after him." Chance blurted out quietly, suddenly realizing just what was going on. The ghost wasn't after her, she was after Matthew! In a way, she was a lot like Claire Becker had been to Pete Sheridan. But for some reason, this didn't feel like the same thing.

"I want to make him pay." She sang out quietly and finally closed the distance between herself and Chance on the bed. "All his little play pretties. So sad what keeps happening to them. And this time? I will have my revenge when everyone downstairs realizes that he's the one who murdered you. Really, it's a shame. Everything that he's done to you poor girls. I hate that you have to be the final death for his downfall. You have been the smartest out of them all."

"I also didn't willingly sleep with him!" She gritted out, more cuss words flowing through her head. About half of them were aimed at Angelica while the rest went to Matthew. "Angelica, this doesn't have to be how things end. You don't have to kill me just to make him pay. I promise, I'll help you."

"Sorry sweetheart. The only way you can help me is by not fighting me on this." She sang out before her face contorted in rage and she appeared on the bed. Gagging at the stench filling her nostrils, she braced her arms up to push away the blade headed for her throat. But with the drugs still in her system, she was about two seconds too late, yelling out when the knife cut across her neck like butter. She managed to jerk at just the right moment, yet another cry passing her lips as the knife dug down, slicing her chest and the top of her left breast. Tumbling off the bed, she crawled across the floor and reached for her dress, pulling it over her as the door to the bedroom opened and Matthew appeared. This time, Angelica's ghost stayed in plain sight and started to walk toward him.

"What the..." He mumbled out, too transfixed on Angelica to even think about running.

"Hello to you too, darling." She cooed out, the knife that was now covered in Chance's blood still in her hand. "You've been such a bad boy." She tilted her head slightly then in one swift motion, moved to slit his throat. He ducked away just in time, but she had managed to get the side of his neck before she disappeared against the floorboards. She reappeared a few seconds, looking angrier than she had been in previous moments. But just as she was about to go for Matthew again, she stopped suddenly and looked down at her hands.

Chance was able to look up just in time to see Angelica's body catch fire and start to disintegrate. She knew what that meant and quickly started to praise her boyfriend and his brother for finding her body. Seconds after Angelica's ghost disappeared, she took one last look around the room before everything went black, blood practically pouring from the cut across her chest and throat in a steady flow.

Matthew, so stunned by everything that had just happened, didn't even see Chance on the other side of the bed. Pushing his hands up against the side of his neck, he saw the blood against his fingers, which caused his face to pale considerably before he crumpled to the floor.

Once they were sure that Angelica's body had been fully burned, Sam and Dean gathered up their supplies and raced back over to the Douglas Mansion. Dean had a sickening feeling that they hadn't found the body in time but didn't let himself focus on that. Instead, he just got the car parked before they both raced inside through the back entrance. Sliding into the house, they looked at each other when sirens pierced the air and both men ran up the stairs, checking every single room until they found one with the door open. Sam stopped to check on Matthew, who lay unconscious on the floor. Dean just overlooked him and noticed the unmade bed. Ignoring the urges beginning to surge through his body, he rounded the bed, yelling Chance's name when he saw her on the floor, bleeding profusely from a neck and chest wound. "Sam!" His voice hit the air in a rough range of emotions as he pulled the tie from around his neck and quickly started to wind it around her neck. Blood was everywhere and he was fully aware that she lay naked underneath the dress that was drapped over her. Hoping like hell that she would have a good excuse for that, he did everything he could to make sure that she would actually be around to tell him what all had gone down in this room.

Sam ran over when he heard his brother's voice, her name passing his own lips as he dropped down to quickly help cut the blood off from leaving her paling figure. They continued to keep pressure on the wound up until they heard footsteps beginning to echo against the hallway floor. "We gotta get out of here, Dean."

"I'm not leaving her!" He growled, not even daring to move his hands from her chest while Sam applied pressure to her throat carefully.

"Dean, we're fugitives. If the EMTs come in here and see us, we're gonna get locked up."

Knowing that his brother was right, he just swore under his breath and pressed a light kiss to Chance's cheek before he pulled his tie from around her throat. They managed to duck out of sight and get out the door before the EMTs arrived, one addressing Matthew while two others attended to Chance. The entire time, all Sam and Dean could do as they ran for the car was hope like hell that Chance would still be alive by the time she arrived at the hospital for medical attention.

* * *

Chance winced visibly as she woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. Gagging when her throat constricted suddenly, she forced her eyes opened but quickly closed them when she saw the walls of her hospital room.

Dean, who hadn't left the chair next to her bed since she had been put in a private room, was at her bedside just after her eyes closed again. "Hey, no. Let's see them eyes, gorgeous."

Her eyes flew open when she heard his voice and tears instantly began to well up when she saw him. He looked beyond exhausted and Sam, who stood right behind him, didn't look any better. Reaching out, she lightly grabbed his hand as her other hand moved up to her throat, lightly messing with the gauze that covered her neck then spiraled out to cover the cut that had created a jagged line across her chest. "How...?" She croaked out, wincing again when her voice refused to work with her. The bitch had gotten her better than she thought and that made her even more angry.

"Someone heard you scream." Sam answered, having had more information than Dean did since all the older man could focus on was getting word that her condition was improving. They couldn't really just go up to a nurse and ask how she was doing since their faces were still being plastered on the news at every possible opportunity, but they still had methods for getting around that. The list was just getting shorter with every passing day.

"I'm sorry." She managed to croak out. It was hard for her to talk since a small amount of damage had been done when her throat was cut. Plus with the positioning, the nurses had to make sure that the gauze was wrapped tightly enough so that pressure was applied, but not so much that it caused her throat to cave in. She could vaguely remember some things that had happened that night, but the images that stuck out the most to her honestly made her sick to his stomach. "How long?"

Dean carefully sat down on the side of Chance's bed and pulled their interlocked hands into his lap. "Two days." He mumbled out. This was a true test as to how long they had known each other. She didn't have to say much, but she knew which words to use to get her point across. Something that definitely was coming in handy with her compromised condition.

Sam slid into the chair that his brother hadn't climbed out of since all of this had happened. There had been times when he still couldn't believe that all of this was happening. He had spent so much energy hoping that this would just be some kind of horrible nightmare that he couldn't let himself be happy that she was awake and alert. The drugs had left her system, but not before blood had been taken and tested. Doctors were convinced that she had been slipped something and that was even more proof to the sexual assualt. No one believed in ghosts or paranormal events, so when Matthew had regained consciousness, he had been arrested for rape and attempted murder. That was something that the brothers would have to tell her, that she would be needed to put this guy away since there was no other way to link him to the string of women that had come before Chance.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep, okay?" Dean finally managed to force words to pass his lips. It honestly hurt to see her like this and not be able to do anything. He couldn't fix this for her and he was actually angry with himself.

She nodded slowly, managing a small smile in his direction then at Sam's. It slowly faded and she lightly squeezed his hand when he leaned over and kissed her forehead. The rounds were changing and the boys had to be careful, she knew that, but it still felt good that they had risked exposure to make sure that she was okay and had someone in the room when she woke up. "Call Bobby?" She asked out when they started to move away from the bed.

Dean, who stood closer to the bed than his brother, nodded and gave her a small smile as he lightly touched her foot. "Already did it. He wants us to bring you by once you're released." She nodded and Sam chose that time to break in. "We'll try to swing by later and bring you some stuff...yknow, so you're not bored."

She could only smile and wave slightly, which tore at Dean even more when he saw all of the electronics that she was hooked to. He loathed hospitals with a passion especially after the scare they'd had with his heart and again when they were all nearly killed by the demon. To see someone else that he cared about was like a knife in the chest but she needed them there and he was more than willing to put her before him. More goodbyes followed before the boys snuck out to the waiting Impala. Once they were gone, Chance sighed and let her head rest back against the mound of pillows behind her heavily. Deep in the back of her mind, she just wished that this would all go away. Part of her wasn't looking forward to the time when she would be face to face with Bobby again, knowing that he would probably try to step in and make her stay with him. But there was no way that was going to happen. She was way too invested in this fight to just sit on the sidelines and wait for it to come to her. She had to be out there, she had to be out fighting alongside the two men that had brought her back from the brink of death.


	22. Chapter 22

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

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**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

No one said anything as the Impala buzzed lightly through a dark, deserted street. Chance had finally been released from the hospital against doctor's orders. She didn't want to have anything to do with the court proceedings that were now hanging on Matthew Douglas' shoulders. She had given her statement to the cop that had begun to hang around her hospital room, which made it harder for Sam and Dean to visit her. But being the stealth hunters that they were, they had managed to sneak in after she had finally told the officer what he wanted to know. The information appeased him and the last she heard from him was him telling her that he hoped she had a speedy recovery. Yeah, like that was possible.

Dean had yet to mention the way he had found Chance in that dark bedroom and it was a conversation he was less than thrilled about having. The thought of her being with another guy...even unwillingly, made him sick to his stomach so he did the normal thing and just pushed it from his mind. Instead he focused on getting her out of the hospital and by Bobby's so that he could see for himself that she was alive and on her way to healing.

"Someone say something." She mumbled out, her voice still scratchy from the gauze that was taped across her wound. The doctor had told her that she would more than likely end up having a scar from how badly she had been cut and that made her want to both kick the doctor and resurrect the bitch back so she could kill her all over again. It wasn't so much a moment of vanity, it was the fact that she would forever carry around a reminder of that night. She didn't want physical reminders, the mental and emotional reminders were more than enough. She'd begun to have nightmares again, reliving that night over and over in her sleep. But luckily Dean was always at her side, not letting her out of his sight for more than minutes at a time. And even then, every time she walked back into the room, he looked aggitated and nervous. He was showing her yet another side of his personality and that was the doting boyfriend. He was the one that changed her bandages every time it needed it, but she knew for sure that he never focused on the wound. Instead he just taped a line of gauze from where the cut started to where it ended. She had begun to wear his shirts more and more, joking that if the stitches popped open, she wanted to bleed on his clothes and not her own. He didn't find it too funny but that was how she was choosing to deal with things.

"What do you want us to say?" Dean's voice broke the silence just minutes after hers had. The wounds from that night were very fresh for him too. Never, in all his years, did he think that he would walk into a situation like that and feel the way he had. That scared him almost as much as the thought of losing her. He refused to acknowledge that line of thinking and it usually stopped there. He couldn't let himself entertain those thoughts or he really would crack under all of the pressure and weight that seemed to be strapped to him.

"Anything. Hell, I'd even be willing to talk about that night, just...no silence." She mumbled out, knowing almost as soon as he did it that Dean would reach over and switch on the radio. She could tell he wasn't ready to talk about things and she wasn't sure if he ever would be. They had yet to even talk about John's death so this was probably right up there on the avoidance list for him.

Sam just looked at his brother, then at Chance before letting his eyes return to Dean. He could tell something was obviously running through his head at warp speed but every time he had tried to bring it up, he would just get some smartass comment or a smack to his shoulder. After a while, he just stopped trying when the realization that he was wasting time. But they had to talk about it. Or at least, that was his way of thinking. "What happened in there?" He found himself asking before he could lock the words away from the tip of his tongue.

Chance sighed and Dean remained silent as he gaged her reaction in the rearview mirror. She fidgeted with the bandage across her throat, which had a thin line of red in the middle and shrugged carefully. "He drugged me. Turns out, that was how he was disabling his victims. All of them were drugged when Angelica attacked. I was just...the only one who woke up." As she ended the sentence, her voice cracked and she swore mentally. She could easily feel herself on the verge of tears but she refused to cry. Crying did nothing and she had always believed that. It didn't change anything, it didn't fix what was broken. And right then, she felt very broken.

Hearing the conversation pretty much stop there, Dean just sighed and pulled off the deserted Interstate when he saw a nearby motel. He was sick of driving and if they were going to get this out now, he didn't want to be behind the wheel of his beloved car. Anger would take over and he'd probably swerve and hit something. "I'll be right back." He announced gruffly once the vehicle had been parked, giving them no time to react before he was out and inside the lobby of the rundown motel.

Once inside, Sam tried for the last time to get Chance to open up about what had happened. He knew her just as well as he knew his brother and there was no mistaking the look in on her face. Her eyes were puffy and red from when she had probably let herself cry, but other than that, she just looked exhausted and worn out.

Clearing her throat lightly as she got her shoes off and was situated in bed, she leaned back against the headboard and just let the words tumble out of her. She didn't even care if she made sense. Sam wanted to talk about it and she was going to. Just to shut him up so they could move on from this. "I had one glass of champagne that night, and it came from Douglas. I remember trying to get away from him, and I remember..." Swearing quietly, she turned her head slightly and closed her eyes before she forced herself to push on. "I remember my dress being taken off and him laying over me."

"Did he say anything?" Dean surprised them all by asking the question, but he wasn't surprised when Chance's eyes stayed closed.

"Yeah, he...said that I fought more than the others. That I should just lay back and enjoy it cause it probably wasn't very often that I was with such a powerful, successful guy. After that, I blacked out and when I woke up, I was alone. I tried to get out of the bed but I could barely move. Angelica's ghost appeared and I tried. I tried to sway her onto my side and keep her from attacking me but it didn't work. She told me that he was going to pay, that he was going to be the one to take the rap for my death. She promised that it would end with me, that I would be the last girl to fall victim to Matthew Douglas and I guess...she was right." She finished with a small shrug and finally looked over at them before she climbed off the bed to reach for her bag. Neither guy said anything as she dug through it to find her medical supplies then looked at Dean sheepishly as she held up the roll of gauze the hospital had given her. He just nodded and gestured at the bathroom, giving her time to go in and remove her shirt before he joined her.

Air seemed to catch in her throat as she sat on the toilet lid, watching his movements as they strained to prepare the new piece of gauze. He was careful as he manuvered around her to sit on the side of the tub. Dutifully turning around to face him, she just closed her eyes and tilted her head back carefully so he could pull the gauze off.

He had no idea how she was handling this so well, but he couldn't help but be in awe of her strength when she didn't yelp as the medical tape peeled off her raw skin. The wound was deep and still being held together by a jagged line of staples. That alone made him sick to his stomach but he blinked in surprise when she suddenly stood up and moved over to the mirror. Letting his forearms rest against his thighs, he just watched her as she inspected the damage. Tears finally filled her eyes and he was quickly on his feet when her fist connected with the mirror, sending shards of glass flying. The things in his hands were quickly set aside as he wrapped toilet paper around her bleeding knuckles and pulled her into a tight hug. She resisted him at first, still loathing the feeling of another person's hands on her body. But when his scent hit her nostrils and filled her senses, she collapsed against him. He could feel tears starting to stain his tee shirt but he didn't care. As long as she got it out, that was what mattered most. "Why!? Why does all this keep happening?" She wailed out, drawing Sam's attention from the other room. He appeared in the doorway, silently pushing the door open. But when he was waved away, he nodded and slid out of sight again. This was something that he didn't want his little brother to see. And deep down, he knew that Chance didn't want him to witness her breaking point.

"I wish I could answer that." He mumbled out, hating that he didn't have any answers. And he didn't. He had no idea why she had been targeted the way she had. None of them could have known that this would happen, but Dean should have prepared himself. He should have been there, not leaving her side for a second. She was one of the only women he knew that could handle herself, but in situations like this? She had been powerless for the first time in his memory and he hadn't been there to save her. After all the sworn promises he made.

Chance just stood there, leaning heavily against him as she let everything just pour out through her tears. Her headache was starting to get worse but she didn't care. The floodgates were open and for the life of her, she couldn't shut them. She couldn't block this out and pretend it didn't happen. Not with the line of stitches angling down her body. Slowly pulling away from him as she regained at least some of her composure, she looked up at him in surprise when his thumbs swept over the skin under her eyes, slowly pushing away fallen tears.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I promised you that I'd be there to protect you and I wasn't."

"You were there when it mattered most." She quickly replied. The last thing she wanted was for him to blame himself for this. He wasn't the one to blame, Matthew Douglas was for how twisted he had let his life get. She knew the danger and the possible reprocussions. Sighing heavily, she winced when the skin running down her throat resisted her movements and she idly gestured. "Can you...patch me up?" She asked with a small, hopeful smile on her lips.

He couldn't help but grin when he saw the look on her face. That was the surefire way to make him melt. No matter what was going on or what was happening, all she had to do was smile at him for him to be able to hold on to the hope that things wouldn't always be this difficult. "I guess." He pretended to mumble out, snickering when she lightly smacked his chest and plopped down on the toilet. Well, at least she hadn't lost her sense of humor!


	23. Chapter 23

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

"Let the inquesition begin." Chance mumbled darkly as she stood in front of the house she had practically grown up in. She could remember all of the times she had tried to sneak out of the house, only to have Bobby waiting on the porch for some sort of explaination. Nine times out of ten, she had never been able to give him one and whatever plans she had made were forgotten about. He had been the first person to put her safety above everything else and in times like this, she realized just how much things had changed. That she no longer had just Bobby to depend on when things got hard. She had the two people standing on either side of her.

Dean had been a little unsure about bringing her to Bobby's, but while she was still in the hospital he had promised. He was bound and determined to make sure that he didn't put any thing between him and the man that Chance considered her father to make things difficult. They now held different roles in each other's lives and for the first time ever, he felt like he was approaching the house as someone different. Not as John's son, but as Chance's boyfriend.

Bobby, who had been just inside the door, heard movement outside and was out on the porch when they all looked back at the house. In almost the blink of an eye, she was moving, carefully propelling up the few steps leading onto the porch and threw her arms around his neck.

"I've been worried about you girlie." Bobby mumbled as he hugged his legal daughter carefully. She still had gauze lining her throat and he hadn't overlooked the fact that she had coupled one of Dean's tee shirts against a faded and ripped pair of jeans. Holding her at arm's length, his eyes did a trained once over before he acknowledged Dean and Sam when they walked up. "How you boys doin'?" He asked in his thick drawl, shaking hands with Sam, who had approached him first then looked at Dean. He had been told about the new role he now held in Chance's life. At first, he'd been against it, but after a lot of thought and consideration, he honestly couldn't see her with anyone other than the older Winchester. And in his mind, he thought that Dean was a good match for his daughter. He also knew that the young man wouldn't do anything to push Chance into harm's way.

"We're good. How've you been?" It was Dean that asked the question as he shook hands with Bobby, glancing at Chance when she moved to stand beside him.

"I'm okay, not much has been happening way out here." He replied then turned and waved them inside. "Let's continue this inside. Just to be on the safe side." They all nodded and walked in, Dean following Chance as Bobby walked inside after Sam. None of them knew how long this visit was going to be, but Chance found herself hoping that it was going to be relatively short.

Dean blew out a low breath as he took a seat on the over-stuffed couch that Bobby had set up beside the desk that had seen better days. All sorts of books and paperwork was piled on top of it and he remembered wondering when the thing would collapse under all that weight. Letting his thoughts snap when he saw Chance, he leaned back and unconsciously wound his arm around her waist as she sat next to him then leaned back.

Bobby couldn't help but be amused by the way his surrogate daughter was acting with the boy she'd grown up chasing after. Settling down in a chair across from the couch as Sam moved to lean back against the desk, he sighed at glanced between all three young adults. "So who wants to tell me what happened in Georgia?" Virtually no sound was made, except for Chance when she sucked in a sharp breath.

Dean turned his head to look at her as she seemed to fight to figure out which way to let everything tumble past her lips. She had yet to even tell him and Sam the entire story, but he knew that with Bobby in the room, everything was going to come out. But he seemed to be a silent source of support that she sorely needed right then. The hardest conversation she would ever have with Bobby was about to happen and she needed all the help she could get. "We were doing a job, some murderous spirit in yet another place. Did our usual thing, but this time I was kind of the bait by accident. The guy involved, Matthew Douglas, kinda took a liking to me or something and we ended up at his party. Next thing I know, I'm laying..." Trailing off, she cleared her throat and unconsiously leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, which pushed Dean's arm from her body. For some reason, she didn't want him touching her as she got the next part out. The part of the story that he hadn't heard. "Douglas drugged me, slipped something into a glass of champagne that he gave me. That was how he subdued his victims, made them powerless so he could rape them. But I'm guessing he always disappeared before they woke up. I was the first one to wake up, though. His wife's ghost appeared and it turned out that she was the one doing the killings, trying to pin them on her husband. He had ended up killing her after an arguement they had where he accused her of cheating on him. He'd done the cheating and that was her reason for wanting revenge. He got away with her murder after paying off some cops to bury her file and stop investigating her murder. I fought her as best I could but my throat and chest got slashed. Douglas came into the room for some reason and I managed to get out of the bed. Next thing I remember, I woke up in a hospital room."

It took all the three men had to not let anger boil over. Now that Dean had heard the entire story, he instantly wanted to go back to Georgia and deal with the guy that had put Chance through a new kind of hell. Sam was mentally right beside him, hating that they had let her get that far into danger that it had almost cost her, her life. Bobby just stayed silent as he listened to her recount the story but finally nodded and looked over at the Winchester brothers. "Where were you two when this was going on?"

"Getting rid of Angelica's remains." Dean was the one that spoke up, Sam still silently leaning against the desk. "We walked in to find her and the Douglas guy unconscious. Someone downstairs called the cops and we had to disappear before we got busted and blamed. I went to the hospital to check on Chance and Sam stayed behind to get information about what was going to happen to the guy. Last we heard, he was standing trail for attempting to murder Chance, drugging her, and...everything else he did to her."

Bobby looked over at his surrogate daughter in time to see her jerk her head to the side when the man sitting next to her couldn't even say what had happened. There was a definite change in the dynamic now and as much as he wanted to demand that she stay with him instead of going back out on the road with the boys, he knew that she was safer with them, gaining information about what they were all in for. Nodding slowly, he just stood up and gestured into the kitchen. "Okay, well now lets get some food into your systems. Chance, I want you to go rest after you eat."

She just nodded and slowly climbed to her feet before she stalled for a couple of minutes and glanced at Dean. "I...uh, need to change my dressings before we eat."

All three men nodded and moved to start in their respective directions. Quiet words were shared between the couple, Dean offering to go get her bag while she got ready in the bathroom. Once he left, Sam disappeared into the kitchen and Bobby quietly announced that he wanted to see the wound marring her skin. Nodding, she just shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and slowly walked into the bathroom. Once in there, she carefully peeled off her tee shirt and set it aside, sighing as she studied her reflection in the mirror. The wear and tear of being on the road had started to take it's toll on her but she didn't care. She had stopped seeing her reflection after the attack had happened and she honestly wasn't sure if that was something she wanted to overcome. Everything felt like it was starting to get to be too much for her to handle, but she had to. This was her life, this was the way things were working out and she just had to trudge through it all to get to the other, hopefully brighter side.

* * *

Dean licked his lips lightly as he sat on Bobby's couch, a book in his lap. Research always helped him clear his head and right now, he seriously needed it. They had been at Bobby's for close to three days and he was sadly, already itching to get back out on the road. But Chance needed a break and he was more than willing to give it to her. But after their initial arrival, their contact had become almost nonexistant. If she wasn't sleeping, then she was staring aimlessly out of the living room window, curled up in a ball in the corner of the couch. She had even stopped wearing his clothes, going back to hers when her bandages had become lighter. Luckily the wound was healing up nicely and they could tell that the scar she would have was going to be barely visible. Clearing her throat lightly, she just shoved a hand up into her hair as she stared out the window giving direct access to the porch. She was on edge and it wasn't just because of the things that had happened in Georgia. The air around her and Dean felt tense and she wanted to kick, scream...do anything to change it. Looking over at him as her hand moved to the back of her neck, she cleared her throat lightly to speak. "I hate how different things are now."

He looked up when he heard her voice and slowly closed the book. It was set aside before his full attention was on her. "I do too." He mumbled out then fell silent, honestly at a loss of what to say. "What sucks the most is I have no idea how to help you."

"There's nothing you can do." She replied honestly and carefully shrugged her shoulder. "But by you being here, bringing me to see Bobby, it is helping."

"Yeah, well it doesn't feel like enough." He rattled on, flashing her a dry grin before he got up in search of another book to look through.

Frowning, she shifted against the couch and turned to face where he'd been sitting better as her legs curled underneath her. "What do you want me to say, Dean?"

"I want you to tell me why you refuse to let me touch you." He blurted out as he spun on his heel to face her. Anger and frustration were more than evident in his features, even in the way he moved and stood.

"Are you serious?" She blurted out and looked at him as if he were crazy. "You're pissed off because I won't have sex with you?!"

"That has nothing to do with it." His anger just grew a little more and he turned away from her slightly. But his movements didn't stay permanant for long before he was walking over to her. Kneeling in front of her, he sighed heavily and looked her in the eye. "I touch your arm, you jump. I try to climb into bed with you, even when you're asleep, and you flinch away from me. This is killing me Chance, because never in my life did I think that you would ever be scared of me."

"I'm not scared of you!"

"Then what?!" Dean broke in before she could get another word out. Standing up, he held his arms out to his sides in a helpless gesture. "What? What is it, Chance? What's in your head that prevents you from letting yourself include me in all this?!"

"The fact that I let another man touch me!" She exclaimed and stood up to face him. "I don't care what the doctor said. I don't care what drugs were in my system. I should have fought harder. I should have gotten away from him sooner. I still feel disgusted and used and it's been how long?! If I can't fight off a guy that had no demonic ties, then how the hell am I going to get away from The Demon in one piece?!"

"That's a completely different situation."

This time it was Chance that interjected. "No it's not, Dean. I was helpless, completely powerless to stop the things that happened to me and I honestly don't know how you can stand to look at me. Much less do everything that you have for me."

"Maybe it's because I love you! Did you ever stop to let that sink into your head or was it all forgotten!?" He was speaking solely out of anger, not directed at her, but he didn't care. It all needed to be said and if it took them squaring off to get it done, then so be it. "I'm having to deal with this too, Chance. I have to deal with the fact that I left you alone with him. I willingly let you go into harm's way and I almost lost you. The only woman I've ever loved aside from Mom. I almost lost you and when I saw you on that floor, your blood soaking my tie and clothes, it was tearing me apart! And it's a different situation because I'll be damned if I let you face that demon without me and Sam there to back you up!"

"I just want to forget it ever happened!" She exploded before she could swallow the words back. "I want to forget about everything that happened in Georgia. I want to forget the look I saw on your face when I woke up in that hospital room. And it's the same look I get everytime you think I'm not looking. I just...I just want to have you hug me and be able to feel safe again." She mumbled helplessly, her body seeming to sag as the anger drained away.

Dean was moving at almost a minute's notice. Carefully, yet quickly pulling her into his arms, she didn't even try to fight him as his arms circled her tiny frame. She only reacted by burying her face in his chest, her hands clenching fistfuls of his tee shirt against his back. "I'm not losing you." He whispered in quiet defiance. "I refuse to let that happen."

"I can't do this without you." She quietly confessed. "I don't want to."

"You won't have to. I'm not going anywhere. It's gonna take a hell of a lot of demons and monsters to tear our lives apart again."


	24. Chapter 24

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

After making a trip back to the Roadhouse for some sort of lead onto the girl they had met shortly before Gordon showed back up, they had ended up with nothing but a new job lead. And an idea that had come from Dean. Chance was still dealing with the aftershock of Georgia and he had been wracking his brain for some sort of way to help her out. A way that he and Sam just couldn't master. So after finding out just where they were going to end up, he had managed to get Grace's phone number and called her. He had just barely been able to get out the details of the hunt when she agreed that she would meet them there. She had heard a little about what had happened with Chance and wanted to see Sam again. It was almost like killing two birds with one stone and she wasn't against having to kick in a little money just to get up to where they were going to end up.

Chance had noticed that something was up with her boyfriend but no matter how much she begged and pleaded, he just would not relent. It wasn't until they were in Cornwall, Conneticut that he actually started to vocally acknowledge the fact that she was asking what was up almost every thirty minutes. He had to hand it to her, she knew how to annoy him to the point where he almost gave the entire surprise away.

But they managed to make it to the sight of their next job without Dean going into detail about what was going to happen. All Chance really knew was that they were investigating a string of mysterious deaths in an inn that had been around since the 1930s. She was the first one to climb out of the car once Dean had parked in front of the large entrance. Pulling her bag out after her, she just sighed and slung the bag over her shoulder, wincing a little when the bandage that still covered her throat constricted. The scenery in front of her honestly was beautiful and she could see why people from all over would come to a place like this. It was just a shame that the establishment was getting the kind of reputation, and hell that it was.

Dean sighed heavily as he came up behind Chance, one hand sliding over her hip as his other gripped the duffel at his side. "Come on." He nodded toward the building, letting her fall into step beside him as their fingers interlocked. He could easily see the trepidation on her features as they walked up to the front door. This was technically the first hunt they were going on since the disaster in Georgia. He honestly would have worried more if she hadn't been nervous about walking into this, into something that they had no real idea about.

Sam followed them up to the front door, but stopped and frowned when he noticed something on an urn that had been placed near the door they were waiting to be opened. "Hey guys? Look at this." He mumbled out, his fingers nimbly moving over the lip of the urn, across a design that looked cut into the pottery.

"What is that?" Chance asked before Dean could but frowned lightly when the younger man mentioned hoodoo. That was some crap that, even though she knew very little about it, she was fully prepared to not mess with it. The door opened before the conversation could go any further and they were ushered inside. Frowning slightly at the sudden push of movement from Sam, she just blinked in surprise when he broke away from them and headed into another direction. "What the...?" She asked, trying to look over Dean's shoulder but didn't have much luck when she was forced aside. Two little girls ran past, causing her to actually smile for the first time since they had left Bobby's. She missed being that age, but not so much in a time like this. Glancing around, she blinked in surprise when her name suddenly hit the air.

Dean just smiled and stood aside, holding Chance's bag as she went to greet Grace. She had come in only minutes before Chance and the brothers and had waited for them to show up before she checked in. Noticing the gauze lining the side of her throat, she was very careful in hugging her best friend, who was grinning at the fact that Sam didn't look like he was getting too far from her. "What're you doing here?"

Grace laughed and shook her head lightly as they held each other at arm's length. "Hello to you too. Dean gave me a call, told me where you'd be heading out so I figured I'd come join in on the festivities." She intentionally kept her answer vague thanks to the mixed company in the room. Chance looked like she understood perfectly and nodded as she continued to smile. "Well it's damn good to see you!" Both girls hugged again before the three of them joined Dean up at the front desk."

"How many rooms?" She asked, smiling herself when she saw the foursome begin to exchange glances between them. "Two." Dean announced, already knowing how they were going to be separated for the night: Grace and Sam in one room while he and Chance took the other. Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket, he stumbled back slightly in surprise when a hand shot out to hand over a piece of plastic. Grace just grinned at him, silently daring him to fight her on paying for one of the rooms. She wasn't going to tag along for the ride and not contribute finacially. Once everything was taken care of, and the bills were paid, Chance just shook her head at Dean, who was still snickering about what room they'd gotten as they followed the bellhop, who was practically dragging their bags due to his advancement in age. But one good thing about age, that worked to their advantage, he knew a hell of a lot about where they were staying.

* * *

Chance sighed and stretched as she looked around the room that she and Dean would be sharing. Grace was seated next to Sam, who was doing research about the people who had died in this inn. Looking around, she grimaced when she saw the most hideous wedding gown ever tacked up onto the wall. "Wow, talk about your lack of decor." She mumbled then busted out laughing when Dean went to sit on one of the beds and almost fell over.

"Nice and soft, ain't it?" He grumbled and finally managed to sit upright, pretending to frown at Chance before he grabbed her and lightly pulled her into his lap. She just stuck her tongue out at him and smacked him lightly on the arm when he tried to bite her upper arm. He was almost sure that he would have gotten that upside the head had he not been paying attention and went for her shoulder.

"Okay, so who wants to tell me why C is sporting battle wounds?" Grace asked after a few beats of silence. The blonde just gaped at her best friend and shook her head slightly. She no longer had to wear gauze over the full length of the wound, which made things more comfortable for her. But since the slash against her throat had been deeper, gauze was needed for a little while longer while the last layer of skin healed up. "I...uh, I'll tell you about it later." She replied and nodded slowly, not really wanting to get into all the details and logistics. She had to be alert and fresh for this hunt or she was sure she'd end up in the hospital again. That was one route she would be very happy to avoid at all costs.

Noticing the tension threatening to settle in the room, Dean lightly slapped Chance's thigh and glanced around. "Okay, who wants to go exploring?"

Snickering, she just shook her head slightly and stood up then pulled him to his feet. "Let's give Grace and Sam some alone time. Plus we gotta figure out what all we're dealing with and just how much of this place is fixed with hoodoo."

"I love it when you talk dirty." He cracked, a goofy grin playing on his features. Sam and Grace snickered and shook their heads as Chance rolled her eyes and waved before practically dragging him out of the room. Once they were gone, Grace finally looked over at Sam for the first time since they had all met up in the lobby. "So you gonna tell me why I'm here? Not...that I'm upset about being here. I'd just like to know."

He shook his head slowly as a small smile tugged on his lips. He had known that as soon as she could, she was going to start asking for the details of why she was here and what had happened to Chance. But at least she was getting to see her best friend now, as opposed to when she had been so deep in things that she refused to let anyone get near her. That had hurt and he could still remember the look on Dean's face whenever she pushed him away. Leaning back slightly in his chair when she got closer, he slowly pulled her into his lap and sighed as one arm curled around her waist and his other hand started to run through her hair. "We just had a job go really wrong back in Georgia. Chance was in the middle of it all, got attacked and almost died. I wish I could say that all of it was supernatural, but it wasn't. I guess...we just got a really good dose in reality. Or rather, just how truly sick humans can be."

Grace wasn't really sure if she wanted to know what all had happened to Chance or not. Especially after she had seen the long, jagged wound that disappeared underneath the collar of her shirt. But at least her best friend was okay and that was what she chose to focus on the most. Not the logistics of the job, but that they all escaped relatively unscathed. "Well at least you three are still all right. I'm just glad I was called so I could at least see her and get to hang out with her." She replied and nodded once. Looking around the room for a few minutes, she then turned her head and looked at him carefully, even tilting her head slightly. "So how are you doing? With everything that's been going on, I mean..."

Her question forced a small sigh to pass Sam's lips as he shrugged unevenly. "Some days are better than others. That's just a fact of how we live our lives."

"Has there been any new developments with everything?" Grace hated that she suddenly felt like she was playing Twenty Questions but this was something she really needed to know about. Even moreso after the decision she had reached shortly after parting ways with the boys and Chance. She wanted to be in Sam's life for as long as humanly possible. She just...had to be sure that he wanted that too.

"Yeah, actually there have." He replied quietly, worrying Grace a little more when he couldn't bring himself to look at her. But for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to tell her everything that he'd found out. Before he could even think about trying to answer her, the door suddenly opened and Chance appeared, followed closely by Dean. "Sorry!" She squeaked out, a hand already slapped over her eyes. "I swear I'm gonna puke if you two are naked."

That emitted laughter from both people and Sam shook his head as Grace climbed to her feet. "We're clothed, you perv."

Gaping at her best friend for a second, she just pointed at Dean and nodded seriously. "All his fault, thanks." She grinned then squeaked when he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, causing her feet to leave the floor. "Hey! I was standing on that." She blurted out, waving at them when they disappeared into the connected bathroom to redo her bandage.

Shaking her head slightly at the antics of Chance and her boyfriend, Grace looked over her shoulder and smiled weakly as she held her hand out for Sam. "Come on. Let's give them their mushy time since they were nice enough to do the same. You can finish researching in our room."

He couldn't help but think that was a good idea as he nodded and stood up, gathering his stuff before he announced that they were leaving. Hoping that the pair in the bathroom heard them, he started laughing when; halfway out the door, Chance yelped out and yelled that they sucked for leaving her alone with Dean. He did have to hand it to the tiny blonde that had captured his brother's heart. Even in the thick of dark times, she still managed to find a way to keep things light.


	25. Chapter 25

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

Chance didn't say anything as she lay in the bed that Dean had practically killed himself sitting on. The boys had gone out to do some investigating and she had decided to stay behind. For some reason, she was starting to not feel well and it didn't help that she had spent about thirty minutes trying to drink herself into oblivion. Now the empty vodka bottle sat on the table in front of her. It was almost as if it was glaring at her and she couldn't decide if she wanted to try and seek out more alcohol or if the dulling sensation running through her body was good enough for the moment. Her neck had started to hurt as well and instead of taking painpills to dull that as well, she had just decided to suffer through. Looking up when she heard movement just beyond the door of her room, her hand quickly slid underneath her pillow to grip the gun she always had around. "Who is it?" She called out, almost being able to tell right when someone was going to knock.

Grace stuck a hand in instantly as she slowly opened the door. "No shooting the best friend. I just come in peace."

She just nodded, relaxed against the bed and pulled her hand away from the gun she'd been holding in a death grip. "What's up Grace?" She asked, frowning a little when her words slurred together slightly.

Seeing the bottle of vodka, she just shook her head and threw it away before she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "The last time I saw you down one of these, by yourself, was right after Eric died."

Chance instantly winced and turned onto her back as her eyes closed. "I don't wanna talk about him."

"Why not? You've never wanted to talk about him. Why is that?" Grace couldn't help but ask. She knew that there was something going on that no one was telling her. Something major and she wasn't going to stop until she found out just what it was.

"Because I don't like talking about him. I'm sorry but...thinking about the person that was murdered by just being associated by me...? Yeah, still kinda stings." She mumbled the last part out, turning her head to the side as she focused absently on the wall behind Grace.

"Okay, I understand why you say that, but why do you think it's true?"

"Because. I've learned some things while on this nifty little roadtrip of mine." She slurred out, even throwing a cheesy grin at her best friend. "The...the thing that attacked my mom and Sam's mom, as well as Eric and Sam's girlfriend did it for a reason. We're being pushed headfirst into a war and you know something else? We're, me and Sam are gonna get to go psychotic and become murdering solider machines. Ain't that a great destiny?" She was still slurring as she slowly sat up and winced when the room started to spin. Had she been paying attention, she would have seen Grace's face paling slightly. But she looked just just in time to see her best friend look away and sighed. "He didn't tell you, did he?" She mumbled out and let her shoulder slump.

Shaking her head, Grace just cleared her throat and looked over at Chance again. "No, he didn't. Now I wanna kick his ass."

"Don't." She shook her head and laid a hand on her friend's. "He's having a hard time dealing with this. Hell, we both are. He's scared to get close to you, I'm scared to stay close to Dean. Well...I have more reasons than he does but whatever!" She rolled her eyes as her hand waved slightly in front of her. She lost her balance and pitched back on the bed. Turning her head yet again, she just chewed on her lower lip for a second before turning onto her side to face Grace better. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that but...you gotta know what you're getting into by being involved with us. Even in some sliver of a way. But...and this is just speculation, he and I are kind of in agreement that having you and Dean in our lives the way you are is what could possibly keep us from turning evil and doing this son of a bitch's bidding."

Grace just nodded and swallowed thickly. To be honest, there were still parts of her friends' lives that she didn't really believe in. But this? This was a tough pill to swallow. She honestly didn't know what to say or do but she did have to admit to herself that Chance might've been right. Maybe she and Dean were important parts in keeping Sam and Chance from being lost to hellacious oblivion. But before the conversation could go any further, they were interrupted by Dean and Sam practically falling into the room. All Grace could do was drop her head and shake it slightly as she snickered.

Dean noticed Chance's still frame on the bed first, not really hearing the words of exchange around him as he climbed onto the bed and sat down next to her. He did look up when his brother announced that him and Grace were heading back to their room for the night. After nodding and waving, he kicked his shoes off and laid down next to Chance. "You look like the room's spinning."

"It's about to." She mumbled as she curled up on her side, trying to hide as much of her face in his chest as she possibly could. But given the way they were laying and how lumpy the bed was, she was having a hard time getting comfortable and staying that way. Even before the belly full of vodka.

All he could really do was sigh as he turned so that she could curl against him the way she wanted to. Chance very rarely drank vodka and he knew that something serious had brought her to want to pour the liquor into her system. When she began to speak again, he gained confirmation that he hadn't really needed.

"Dean...if something happens and you can't save me, I want you to kill me." She replied quietly, her voice muffled by the flannel shirt he had paired over a plain black tee shirt.

As soon as her words hit his ears, he leaned back to look at her clearly. There was no disguizing the look on his face and it was a look that she hated seeing: pure disgust and bewilderment. "Don't talk like that, Chance."

"I mean it." She went on, her voice quieting as it hardened. "We have no idea what we're up against here, or what's going to happen. I want to be prepared. If it comes down to my life or yours...I want you to do whatever you have to in order to survive."

The more that she talked, the more he was starting to get pissed off. It was a conversation he just did not want to have. "Chance, it's not going to come down between my life or yours. I made a promise, to both you, Dad, and Sam. Nothing is going to happen to us. We're all going to make it out of this alive. I refuse to think any differently." He was practically growling as he finished his statement. Looking at her for a few lingering seconds, he just sighed and climbed off the bed. All she could really do was stare at him as he disappeared into the bathroom. As much as she wanted to believe him, there was a part of her that just couldn't.

* * *

Chance blew out a low breath as she stood outside the Inn, leaned against the side of the Impala. In what had started out as a seemingly low-key haunting, it had quickly turned disasterous once they found out what was really going on. She could still remember Dean disappearing to the back of the enclosed pool area with Susan while she and Sam tried to get the door opened. Glass had finally been broken and she was able to get into the pool area just in time to see the youngest Winchester dive into the covered pool to save Tyler, the little girl who had been the target all along. Lifting her head slightly when she noticed Sam and Dean walking over, she forced a small smile to her face as she straightened up. "Guess imaginary friends really can be dangerous."

In spite of everything that had happened, Dean just grinned and lightly pulled her up against his side. She willingly curled against him, resting her head against his chest as she watched everything around them. "I hate jobs like this." She mumbled, only being able to see the look on Grace's face as she stood in front of Sam, her back against his chest. "Really makes you think, huh?" She asked before she could really stop herself. One of the first things she had ever learned about her best friend, was how to read her facial expressions. Chance may have grown up in a tough enviroment but she wasn't so tough that she wore her defenses up around those closest to her all the time. She knew the look on the blonde's face; a look that told her exactly what she was thinking about. The future.

All she could really do was nod as she straightened up against Dean's side. "Can we just...get out of here?" She asked, looking at her boyfriend before her eyes flickered to Grace then up at Sam. It was Dean that nodded, moving to open the passenger door of the Impala as Sam and Grace stepped away to talk privately.

"You can come with us." Sam replied quietly, not looking forward to the possible goodbye he was about to have to say.

Grace smiled lightly as she nodded. She didn't really have anything worth rushing back to and in the back of her mind, she couldn't think of anywhere else she wanted to be than on the road with Chance and the Winchester boys. But she also knew that if she went with them, she could become a possible distraction. "I should get back. I don't want to get in the way."

"You won't be in the way, I promise. I think it'd be really good for us...for Chance, if you came with us."

She idly began to chew on her lower lip as she watched her best friend disappear into the interior of the Impala. It was very tempting, to get into the car and hit the road with them. But the rental car she had gotten at the airport wasn't too far away and serving as a really obvious sign of reality. She sighed and hung her head slightly as she pulled her keys from her pocket then closed the distance between her and Sam. "I tell you what. Let me skip out on this one and call me when you get somewhere for longer than a few days. I've got some stuff to take care of back home."

He just nodded and lightly rubbed her arms, doing his best to hide his disappointment in her not accompanying them. Licking his lips lightly, he just nodded and kissed her forehead. "We'll call as soon as we get somewhere. I don't even know where we're going yet."

A small smile cracked onto her features as she consented silently then leaned up and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was returned but over way too soon for either person's liking. "Be safe out there, okay?" She raised an eyebrow slightly, pretending to look as stern as possible as she lightly patted his chest. He gave his best innocent grin then kissed her again before grudgingly pulling away from her. She followed behind him slowly, trying to keep at least a little distance between them so she could resist the urge to pull him back and confess that she had changed her mind. After saying bye to Chance and Dean, who was already behind the steering wheel, she took one last lingering look at her friends before she made the trek over to her own vehicle. She hadn't even gotten into the car and was already counting down the time until she was able to lounge around with them without the fear of someone dying.


	26. Chapter 26

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

Chance couldn't believe her eyes. She had been asleep when Sam and Dean headed out and that had been hours ago. No note, no nothing. The only way she had found out where they were was when she had turned on the TV and could only find news reports about a local bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; where they had ended up after a busted job, had been taken hostage. At first, she didn't think anything of it and tried to continue searching for something semi-decent to watch. But when she landed on a channel and saw Dean's face, she instantly knew something was up. Trying the brothers' phones had been useless and she was only left to watch the events unfold. Apparently this job was going sour too, and fast.

Sam had been keeping up with the fugitive status that Dean had aqquired after showing up very much alive in Baltimore, but now it looked like he was in on things as well. And per usual, she was out of the picture. Benefitial to them, but it kind of stung that she wasn't around for all the good stuff. Reaching over for her phone, she cussed loudly and almost threw the device when she once again recieved her boyfriend's voicemail. "His ass is dead." She mumbled out, rubbing her forehead for a few minutes before she began to dial another number; Bobby's.

The phone rang for what felt like every before the sleepy voice of her dad filled the line and she quickly started to rattle things off. "They're on the freakin' news!" She blurted out before she could stop herself, knowing that it was going to confuse him even more than being woken up in...whatever time of the night it was.

"What?!" Bobby was awake as soon as he heard Chance's voice. They very rarely talked on the phone. Their longest conversation had been thirty minutes, and that had been after she had gone home to find Eric dead. But this looked like it would possibly top their personal best. "How did they end up on the news?!" That didn't sound like the Winchester boys at all and he knew it had something to do with a job.

"I don't know!" Chance blurted out and buried her hand into blonde locks as she continued to watch the muted television in front of her. There was a ticker at the bottom of the screen, but it wasn't feeding her any new information. "They snuck out while I was asleep. I already want to severely hurt Dean, now Sam's on the list!" She seethed quietly, still remembering all the flirting he had done with a jewelry store employee shortly after hitting town. She really did need to teach him how to gain information in other ways. Preferrably before he got a boot up his ass for flirting too much.

"What do you think it's about?" Bobby asked, the pieces slowly starting to connect as he made his way from the couch; where he had fallen asleep, to his desk. Like John, he had the habit of checking out everything in the States. Local news wasn't good enough for a hunter, their scope was much wider.

"Honestly? I have no idea. But whatever it is, it's bad. Dad, Dean's got a hostage."

* * *

Dean cussed lowly as he walked back into the bank. By this time, SWAT had already interviened and cut the power, making it impossible for him and Sam to figure things out the way they needed to. They had originally gone into the bank disguized as security. Earlier in the day, they had gone by a jewelry store to investigate the death of a security officer who had been shot by a very unlikely customer. The woman had cleaned them out only to be busted. That's when the guy got shot and she walked out of the establishment like nothing had happened. Hours later, reports of her supposed suicide surfaced and nothing made sense. They had ended up at the bank when, months ago, it had been hit with the same MO as the jewelry store and Dean was finally figuring out why after making a very unlikely alliance that Chance would probably laugh at him for. Almost as soon as her name registered in his mind, he began to cuss even more. She was going to kill him if they got out of this alive. He was almost sure of it. Hell, he was no longer scared of the cops and SWAT; he was scared of his very tempermental girlfriend.

Making it back to the vault with Sam after a fruitless search of the shapeshifter, he sighed and shook his head. This was all becoming way too deja-vueish and he didn't like it. The last shapeshifter they'd dealt with ended up dying with his face. Though, on second thought... But before his thoughts could go any further, he was snapped back to reality when the situation started to get even more out of hand. The SWAT team was good, he had to hand it to them. They'd already taken out Ronald, who had run after the shapeshifter, only get get in the line of fire and die. That pissed him off beyond belief, but it was something he had to think about later. "Okay, you go try and search for the thing again, I'm gonna take the hostages back to the vault." Nodding, the older brother didn't move until his younger sibling had disappeared. Wrangling everyone back to the vault, he had just gotten the door closed when the phone rang. Rubbing his forehead, he just snatched up the reciever and held it to his hear. "Yeah?"

"This is Special Agent Victor Henriksen." A new voice crackled through the line.

"Yeah, listen, I'm not really in a negotiating mood right now so..."

"Good, me neither. It's my job to bring you in. Alive is a bonus but not necessary."

His blood instantly started to run cold at that, but he refused to let this faceless voice get the best of him. "Whoa, kinda hard for a special agent, don't you think?" One thing he had always taught himself; never lose cool. But when John was mentioned, all bets were suddenly off and he found himself in the beginnings of an arguement before Agent Henriksen disconnected the line. More cuss words flowed past his lips as he hung up the phone and turned toward the vault. One thing was clear; they had to get the damn shapeshifter, get out of the bank, grab Chance and disappear. Their lives depended on it and no way was he going to drag Chance into things when the FBI had no clue who she was. Or at least, he hoped they didn't.

* * *

Chance had begun to pace. There was still no new developments on the bank robbery and she just hoped that both guys made it out alive. She had long given up on trying to figure out how best to kill her boyfriend. Now her time was spent clutching her phone in a death grip while she paced and prayed. Things didn't look bad and for the first time since Georgia, she was scared. Not for herself, but for the innocent lives in the Milwaukee National Trust Bank. She had gotten so lost in pacing and mumbling that when her phone sudden went off in her hands, she jumped and almost dropped it. Quickly snapping it open, she had the earpiece in position in record time. "You better tell me you and Sam are okay." She rushed out. Thank goodness for phones that had programable ringtones for different people.

"We're okay, physically. Look, it's bad..."

"That's not exactly news to me, Dean." She interjected before she could stop herself, already feeling surges of anger washing through her.

"Chance! Kill me later but right now, we have to get the hell out of dodge. We're coming by the motel, can you have everything packed up and ready so you can just come out and meet us?"

"Of course, I'll be keeping any eye out." She promised then snapped the phone shut before she set into action. One good thing had come out of their lifestyles and that was the ability to disappear in the blink of an eye. By the time she heard the Impala's engine, she had all three bags packed and ready. Sam came up to the door and helped her with the bags, making sure that both keys were in plain sight before they both disappeared into the car. Dean was quick to propel the vehicle out of the parking lot and Chance didn't move a muscle until they were finally out on the Interstate. "Did you get the thing you were after?" She asked quietly, almost positive that she looked like she was sulking in the backseat.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Dean nodded then focused on dark road ahead of him. "It was another shapeshifter only the bastard moved faster than the one in Saint Louis."

"Did you kill it while it still had your face?" She blurted out before she could stop herself. She was still pissed off about being left behind with no warning and wasn't hiding it.

It took him all he had to just grit his teeth instead of getting into a heated arguement with his girlfriend. She would win, hands down. She had every right to be mad as hell at them, but emotions were still running high and he was willing to put in one hell of a fight. "No, it had someone else's face." He mumbled out, slamming his foot against the accelerator even more. They weren't getting away from Milwaukee fast enough for his liking.

Nodding slowly, she mumbled something to Sam and before Dean knew what was going on, a hand connected with the back of his head as his younger brother grabbed the steering wheel. The car jerked a little before he pushed Sam away and refocused on driving. "Ow!" He barked out, not being able to fight back a laugh when Chance then smacked the younger Winchester.

"What was that for?!" He blurted out and turned in the seat to face her better.

"For leaving me behind you jackass!" She sneered. "I know it was probably Dean's idea but you went along with it so you get to deal with my pissed off mood too." She nodded once then grinned at them in fake sweetness before she turned and plopped back against the seat.

Dean frowned even more when she disappeared from the rearview mirror and he just shook his head. "We couldn't really go in with you. You don't have disguises and..."

"Don't you dare finish that statement!" Chance shot out as she easily propelled herself back up into a sitting position. "If I hear you say that I wasn't strong enough for this job, so help me God, Dean Winchester; I will beat you within an inch of your life! And you know I can do it too, I've done it before. It's not so much you two stooges leaving me behind, it's the fact that I had to find out where you were by watching the news!"

Sam was doing his best not to snicker at the bickering between the pair but was hideously unsuccessful. That seemed to be all Chance needed to turn on him. "Oh don't you start laughing either, Lanky. You two both scared the hell out of me. Bobby had to spend a damn hour calming me down and convincing me that killing you two was not the best option. For all I know, you could've skipped town or something."

That last statement was what got to Dean and if they didn't have time against him, he would have pulled the car over and pulled her out of the backseat. "Do you really think we would do that to you?!"

"Well, hell if I know! I woke up and poof! You were gone."

"You're the one that pulls the disappearing acts, Chance."

Anger flashed through her eyes as she stared at the back of her boyfriend's head. "Pull the car over."

"What?" He blurted out, glancing over his shoulder at her with a look that screamed she was certifiable.

"You heard me, you jackass. Pull the damn car over." She exclaimed, punching the back of his seat to drive her point across even more. Shaking his head, he just mumbled under his breath as he careened off toward the edge of the road. He apparently didn't know how to keep his mouth shut since Sam hadn't said a word since he'd gotten smacked for snickering. Once the wheels had stopped turning against the gravel, Chance was out of the car. Dean killed the engine and went after her, whirling her around to face him as she moved to get the trunk open. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Since I'm apparently so damn good at disappearing, I figured I'd try it again." She shot back, pushing him away from her so hard that he stumbled back into the road. But it was only a momentary gap of distance before her arm was being held in a death grip. "Let me go, Dean."

"Calm the hell down and listen to me." He shot back, both people giving looks that could kill.

"Let me go or I'm breaking your hand." Her voice dropped lower as anger started to intermingle with fear.

"Damnit, Chance. We don't have time for this. The FBI almost busted us. An agent showed up at the bank and almost took us out. Do you really want to be standing here when they catch up to us and sniper both me and Sam?!"

She could hear the tone in his voice change loud and clear and that was all it took for the switch to be thrown inside her. Not saying a word, he just pulled her up against him. She obliged him, letting her body be crushed up against his in a hug that she was sure could split her in two. She was hard-headed and stubborn. She knew this. But sitting helpless while some of the only family she had left were almost taken away from her? That was something she hadn't been ready to handle. And she was pretty sure that she'd never be able to handle something like that. It felt like forever, them just standing there on the side of the road, clutching at each other. Chance was the one that pulled away first, tilting her head back enough to look up at him clearly. "But I gotta say one more thing, if you ever flirt to get information again, I'll kill you myself."

All Dean could do was laugh as he shook his head slightly then kissed her as hard as he could before starting to gently pull her back toward the car. He started praising anything and everything when she didn't fight him, willingly getting into the backseat before he slid in behind the wheel once again. No one dared say a word as the Impala's wheels spit gravel out behind them, everyone inside the car in silent agreement that the more space between them and Milwaukee, the better.


	27. Chapter 27

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

Chance swallowed thickly as she sat quietly, staring ahead of her. After the disaster in Wisconsin, they had ended up in Providence, Rhode Island. Of all places. She still wasn't really sure how they had ended up there, or what led them to enter the city limits. But now everything was said and done and all she could really do was sit and think about what all had just happened. She could easily remember John talk about Mary. About her beliefs and faith. Dean used to talk a little about her too, but as the years wore on, he just clamped up. She couldn't really blame him, or get him to try and talk about her since she never talked about her own parents.

Lifting her head when she heard movement, she just smiled weakly at Dean as he sat down on the pew beside her. "I'm surprised you haven't burst into flames yet." She joked then winced slightly. For some reason, it felt wrong to be joking about smiting while sitting in a church. A church that was located in a very bad part of town. A local priest had been killed on the very steps and ended up coming back as a vengeful spirit who thought he was doing God's work.

"Yeah, well I'm still tempted to throw holy water on you to see if you melt." He mumbled back, jumping a little when her elbow slid in between two ribs. Painfully. "Kidding." He shot back quietly, glancing over to see his brother still talking to Father Reynolds. They were both surprised that the man hadn't kicked them out of his church by now, with everything that'd happened. "You okay?" He asked and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

Chance just nodded and leaned against him heavily as she continued to stare at the big crucifix hanging in front of them. "Just thinking about my mother and father. How religious they used to be. Course, I only know Mom was religious cause she had a cross hanging from her neck in every single picture I saw."

He just nodded and swallowed thickly as he rested his cheek against the top of her head. "Mine was religious. Very religious. She used to tell me every night that angels were watching over us."

"Do you think that's true?" She asked as her head tilted slightly to look at him better. She felt bad, and a little weird, for asking the question but it had been right there on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't help but ask.

"Honestly? No." Dean replied with only a little amount of hesitation in his voice. If what his mother had always told him was true, then none of their lives would have turned out the way it did. "I don't."

"Why not?" Chance finally lifted her head from his shoulder, turning in the pew to face him better.

He sighed and shrugged as he looked at her sideways. "Because if that was true? None of this would have happened. You'd still have your parents, I'd still have mine..."

"But we wouldn't have each other." She replied quietly before she could force the words back. Sighing, she bowed her head slightly and slid her hand into his. "Dean, our past is the past. We can't change that. But it doesn't mean that higher powers of good don't exist. High powers of evil do, right? Something has to balance it out."

He just lightly licked his lower lip and shook his head slightly before his hand slid from hers, only to cover it against his thigh a second later. "Yeah, well... I still say if angels were watching out for us? You'd of gotten married in a church like this, not running the risk of getting thrown out of one for trying to expell a restless spirit." He replied darkly then climbed to his feet and walked away before Chance got a second to even try and think of something to say. Sighing quietly, she just slowly turned in the seat and continued to stare at the cross ahead of her. In a way, maybe he was right. But then again, so much had happened in her life, shaped the person she was that she wasn't sure who she would be if it hadn't been for all the events of her past. She wasn't entirely sure that the course of action would have led her to a place like this, promising to love, honor and cherish someone for the rest of her natural life. Shaking her head lightly, she pushed herself off the pew and headed out for the Impala. Sitting inside that church made her think too much and right then, that was the last thing in the world she wanted to do. All she could clearly focus on was climbing into bed and getting some much-wanted sleep.

* * *

Dean was pretty much beside himself as he paced the small space of the motel room he'd rented over three days ago. Sam had disappeared close shortly after they'd checked in and he was starting to get beyond worried. It wasn't like his brother to disappear the way he had. Usually they ended up tracking each other back down and after a few choice words, all was good and smooth sailing. But this didn't look like it was shaping up to be one of those times. Sam had dropped off the face of the planet and he had no idea how to get a hold of him.

Chance looked obviously worried as she sat on the edge of the unmade bed, watching her boyfriend's feet as he practically wore a path into the floor. When the younger man pulled his vanishing act, she was almost sure that Dean would be climbing the walls, figuring out more than one way to try and get his brother back. He'd done that, yeah. But it had only lasted a day and half, ending after the leads had run out and they'd ended up in a place different from where Sam had disappeared. She couldn't help but wince when his pacing started to make her eyes swim. Rubbing them, she just sighed and laid back on the bed, her feet moving up so that her knees blocked most of her upper body from view.

"Where the hell could he have gone?!" Dean growled as he continued to pace. He had tunnel vision right then, but she more than understood. His brother was missing and that took top priority. The job they had been working on had been paused almost instantly and while she was grateful for it, there was a part of her that just hoped they could find Sam and get back to the bottom line. She hated them being separated and seeing Dean so close to losing it mentally. But when he stopped moving and touched her leg, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Sitting up, she quirked an eyebrow at him when she saw the look on his face. "You're planning something, what're you planning?"

"Not planning anything." He mumbled out before she heard the sound he'd just heard minutes before. Turning around, he practically dove for his phone when it started to ring louder from it's place in his jacket pocket. How it had ended up there, he wasn't sure, but it was in his hands and answered within seconds. The call didn't last long and he was looking at her again. "That was Sam. He's finally surfaced."

"Go get us checked out, I'll grab our stuff." Chance replied and quickly climbed off the bed. Dean just nodded then grabbed what he needed before disappearing. Sighing, she slipped her shoes on and packed up their belongings, the entire time hoping Sam hadn't done something that could possibly come back on the three of them.

Chance was almost sure that she was going throw up as she listened to the brothers talk. When they had found Sam, who had checked into a motel under an assumed name with blood on his clothes, they soon realized that there was a week of his life that was unaccountable. But after more digging, they had found out that he'd spent his time killing a fellow hunter. She had seen it coming when Dean covered the murder up for his brother, who had wanted to tell someone for it or at least hold some accountability. But she had surprised herself by siding with her boyfriend. Them having to deal with that was just going to make things worse since they all knew how hunters were. When one of their own was killed, no one stopped until the person responsible had a bullet in his head. That was something she had learned quickly from Bobby. The only movement she made was flinching when Sam reasoned that this was possibly how he was going darkside.

Dean was quick on the defensive, knowing in his gut that wasn't the reason for Sam's memory loss. There had to be another explaination. He refused to admit or even acknowledge him turning evil as a possibility for his hideous actions.

"Sam, Dean's right." She finally spoke, drawing attention from both men who looked like they were about to square off at the foot of one of the twin beds in the room.

"There's no other explaination, Chance."

"Yes there is, Sam." She replied and walked over to them, ending up almost right in the middle of them. "If you were turning evil, do you really think that you'd get to have mental breathers? You wouldn't. You'd still be evil, you'd probably be killing someone else and we'd still be searching for you. It has to be something else. Besides, we have that weird connecting thing and I'm not being affected. Don't you think that if you were turning...fulfilling some bogus destiny, I would be too?"

Sam sighed and nodded at her words. She did have a point. She seemed unaffected and now he was left back at square one; having no damn idea how to explain his actions of the past week or so. But when he leaned down and picked up the gun that had been laying on the edge of the bed, Chance backed up slowly while Dean stayed in place. "Whatever it is, I'm becoming unreliable. Dean, you have to kill me."

"What? No. You're not turning evil, Sam. There's gotta be a reason for it and whatever is, we're gonna find it and fix it. Now just put the gun down."

"No. This is the solution. Dean, I don't want to hurt anyone else. I don't want to hurt you or Chance. Do it."

"I'm not gonna do it. Neither's Chance so you're just going to have to trust us on this. Whatever it is, we'll fix it."

Chance breathed a mental sigh of relief but it only lasted about a second. Before she knew what was happening, Sam turned the gun and hit Dean. Yelping in surprise, she didn't have a second to react before the gun was in her face and his arm was closing around on her throat. Fighting him, she only ended up going slack in his arms when the butt of the gun connected with the back of her head.


	28. Chapter 28

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:**

Chance winced and slowly started to shake her head as she regained consciousness. Forcing her eyes open, she turned to move but didn't get very far. The room was spinning and she could feel her stomach start to lurch again as she looked around and realized she had no clue where she was. There were no distinguishing markings and there was something digging into her arms. After more inspection, she frowned and cussed under her breath when she realized that she had been tied to a chair.

Sam smirked as he slowly walked up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Well, look who finally decided to wake up. If it isn't the little badass herself."

"What are you doing?" She mumbled out, her voice low due to the pounding in her head and arms. She had no clue what was going on but she knew by the tone of his voice that whatever was about to happen wouldn't be good. "Why am I tied to a chair?"

"So you can see what it feels like to be helpless, of course." He replied brightly then straightened up and slid into the chair in front of her. "I've always wondered what that would look like. To see you, helpess with no one to really save you."

"So, what?" She drawled out dryly and shrugged a shoulder slightly. "You gonna kill me? Go ahead. I won't fight you, hell you'll be saving me."

"Now why would I go and do something like that? There's no fun in coming out and just killing you."

"So then what's on the agenda, huh?" She asked as her mind worked to figure out just what was going on. The only thing she could clearly think of was the possibility of him being possessed. That was the only thing she'd been able to come up with and the new little marking on his arm seemed to confirm that. She'd only seen it once before but still remembered what Bobby had said it was. She just had to stay silent about that since she was still bound to the chair and had no way of making absolutely sure. "You gonna, what? Torture me? Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh I know you aren't. Little girls like you know how to wiggle so I had to pay special attention to the knots when I tied you up. And let me tell you, you are some dead weight! I don't see how Dean can stand to carry you around."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she looked away from him. He had too much dirt on her, and in his current situation; there was no telling what was going to be used against her. But this was Sam, a boy she'd grown up beside; loving like a brother. Whatever he said to her would hurt ten times worse than any battle wound she'd obtained.

"I mean really." He laughed out and leaned back in the chair, his hands reclining against his thighs slightly. "I can't see why my brother puts up with you! Yeah, you're hot but I never thought he'd go for someone more messed up than him."

"That the best you got?" She asked and raised an eyebrow slightly as she turned her head to look at him again. If this was all he was going to do, he was actually going to have to work harder to get to her.

Not liking the look on her face, his face contorted into an angry expression as he leaned forward then backhanded her quickly. Her head snapped to the side but no sound emiitted. "I'm a little hurt, Chance. No yelping? You really know how to break a guy's heart."

She shook her head slightly then looked up at him, a few blonde hairs falling in front of her eyes. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna hear me scream."

"Oh I forgot!" He exclaimed and vaulted out of the chair. "I'm not Dean. I forget he has the keys to the fortress that is Chance Adams! How did he manage that, exactly? He finally get over his sad little issues and take pity on you? Cause that's all it really is. And don't tell me that you honestly believe that he's in love with you! He's not in love with you Chance, he's in love with the fact that you give it up on a regular basis." He sneered and started to walk around behind the chair he'd been sitting in seconds before. Leaning on the back of it, he just laughed when he saw the look on her face. "You actually believe that he is. Aw, that's heartwarming. Really. Y'know, I wonder how many girls he's come across that he'd rather bang than you. Since, well, you're not giving it up anymore! You can't even stand him touching you since that guy in Georgia!"

"You have no idea what happened in Georgia."

"You're right." He breathed and plopped back down in the chair then leaned closer to her. "Just like I have no idea what happened to your fiance. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you killed that son of a bitch. We're the same, you know that. You're just as capable of murder as I am and...well, I've already got proof that I can!"

"Yeah?" She asked and laughed dryly as she slowly shook her head. "You're pathetic. You really think you're getting to me with this? I know what happened back there, you don't. And really, if that is true, then it looks like you're more suseptable to this destiny crap than I am. You've already killed an innocent person, I've still got a clean bill."

"And how long is that gonna last? I wonder." He frowned and reclined in the seat once again. "I can just see it now. You turning on Dean. Wow, that look on his face is gonna be a sight to see. His beloved, she who hung the moon, girlfriend carving his skin away like butter. I can't wait to see that."

"Then you're gonna be in for a hell of a wait. I'd never hurt Dean."

"Oh, but can he say the same for you? What's going to happen when you finally snap? Do you really think that he's going to think twice when it comes to putting a bullet in you? I don't think he will. He'll probably see it as a way out."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She sneered, just barely getting the words out before air was pushed out of her lungs. Sam's fist connected squarely with her stomach and if she hadn't been tied up; it would have brought her to her knees. Whatever possessing him had a hell of a lot of strength. Coughing quietly, she remained leaned over as Sam stood up and moved behind her again. A small noise finally passed her lips when he grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back so that her cheek was touching his as he kneeled behind her. "You two really are a lot more alike than I thought. Both have that same sarcastic, hopefully-it-hides-the-pain attitude. And it doesn't. I can see right through that, Chance. I can see how scared you are." He sighed and shook his head slightly before he reached around her and lightly started to drag the tip of a knife across her throat. Tracing the scar from the side of her neck, his eyes followed it as it dragged over her chest; pulling her shirt down as it went. "Both would sacrifice yourselves in a heartbeat if it was for a good reason. Kinda sickening actually. Seeing you two together, with that look on your face. Do you really think that Dean is going to give you happily ever after? He can't. He's emotionally devoid of it. You're never going to get to settle down with him, have brats of your own. It's not gonna happen for you and I can't, for the life of me, see why he puts up with you."

Her eyes were on the ceiling as he continued to drag the knife across her skin, every once in a while digging in enough to draw blood. Swallowing thickly, she could already feel blood sliding down her arm as more blood spilled across her upper lip from the bloody nose Sam's fist had created. But before she could get a word out, the door to the warehouse he'd dragged her to burst open and Dean's voice filled the air. She was out of the chair in a second, being pressed back up against Sam as he begged his brother to kill him. He was two seconds away from killing Chance and the only way to stop that was for Dean to shoot him.

Her stomach dropped when she clearly saw the look on his face, easily being able to see the anguish across his features as he stared at them. A scene that none of them had seen coming. "Don't do it." She replied lowly, knowing there was no way in hell she was going to let Sam kill her.

"Stop it!" Sam roared and jerked on her arm, causing her to wince when he pulled the gash he'd created against her skin. "Stop taking up for me, Chance. He has to kill me! That's the only thing that's gonna end this."

"Like hell it is!" Dean growled and pulled something out of his pocket. Recognizing it, Chance ducked just in time for holy water to connect with Sam's chest and arm. Screaming in pain, he flung Chance aside and darted into the shadows. Hitting the ground hard, she shouted out in pain as she landed on the wooden floor. Dean was at her side in an instant. "You okay?"

"Go after him!" She yelled out, already moving to her back. He looked up then back at her before he moved to follow the same path his brother had just taken. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she easily propelled her arms up to her stomach and sat up. Noticing the knots, she began to cuss lowly as she looked around for the knife Sam had been holding against her throat. She grabbed it, silently thanking Sam for dropping it then slammed it into the floor before flinging her arms over it. There was no time to waste, even though she knew Dean wouldn't kill Sam. He'd obviously realized that his brother was possessed, but she still wasn't just going to sit there and let them go at it. Once the rope slacked against her wrists, she quickly pulled them off and snatched the knife up out of the floor and took off. She hit the outside in record time and started to look around before fishing into her pocket for her cell phone. Dean's number was dialed over and over as she moved, looking everywhere she could as she waited in vain to hear his ringtone.

Dean groaned as he pulled himself up onto the embankment. His phone was ringing off the hook and he only needed one guess as to who it was. But yet he made no move to grab his phone as he flopped onto his back. He was only able to lay there for a few seconds before he jumped up to duck out of the way when he heard footsteps. But when he heard Chance's voice, he breathed a loud sigh of relief and held his uninjured arm up.

"What the hell happened?" She rushed out, sliding to his side as she slapped her phone shut and pocketed it.

"Sam shot me." He grumbled, wincing as she helped him up to his feet. He didn't say anything else until he was on his feet and almost smiled when he saw her looking around. "We gotta get out of here."

"Come on, I gotta get that bullet out of you."

"We gotta find Sam. He could be anywhere by now."

Anger flashed through her dark eyes as she looked up at her boyfriend then shook her head slowly. "We gotta get your shoulder patched up before you bleed to death."

"Don't fight me on this." He replied, having it dead set in his mind that following his brother was the best course of action. "We gotta find Sam."

"I already know where he's headed." She blurted out, sliding her hand up into his jacket to feel for blood. When she pulled her fingers back and noticed how sticky they were, she sighed and started to push him up the embankment. "Just trust me on this. We gotta get you fixed up. He's going after Bobby next."

"How do you know?"

She stopped short and looked up at him blankly before she shrugged. "Just a feeling I have. I can't explain it, now come on. We're wasting time."


	29. Chapter 29

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

Chance's heart was literally pounding in her throat as she pushed the Impala toward Bobby's. She still couldn't really explain what had made her think of her dad, but it was something she knew better than to ignore. This wasn't the first time it had happened and it only took her once to realize that ignoring the feeling growing in the pit of her stomach was the wrong thing to do.

Dean couldn't help but wince as he tried to move his left shoulder. It had taken her only about twenty minutes to get the bullet out and patch him up. He was still reeling from that, both because of the pain factor and that she still remembered how to remove a bullet from someone's body without creating further damage. They managed to get to Bobby's in record time and her heart lodged even further in her throat when she saw the ratty car Sam had stolen after being possessed. The engine had barely clicked off before she was out of the car and practically flying up to the front door. Pulling her gun from against her back, she slowly pushed open the door just in time to hear Sam shout in agony. If it had been anyone else, she would have laughed when she saw the full scene in front of her. Classic Bobby taste test; holy water in the beer. He sure knew how to stay on his toes when it really counted.

Dean was behind Chance in mere minutes, practically pushing her further into the house as Bobby's fist connected with Sam's jaw. The taller man hit the floor with a sickening thud as Dean came around from behind her and helped the older man tie Sam up to the chair. She didn't even have to glance up at the ceiling to know why he was being put in the middle of the room. The Key of Soloman had been on the ceiling of their makeshift living room for as long as she could remember. Once Sam was secured, she carefully made her way over to Bobby, her eyes searching his face for some kind of scratch or break in the skin. "You okay?" She asked quietly, feeling very much like a daughter concerned for her father.

"I'm all right. He got here about five minutes before you two." Bobby announced, giving the girl a quick hug before the three of them prepared for the task at hand; exorcising the demon from Sam's body. But it was a plan that didn't get too far in the production stages when Bobby noticed the long scratch on Chance's arm, a scratch that had popped open while they were driving and had begun to bleed again. "We need to get you cleaned up first."

"I'm fine. We have bigger things to worry about." She announced, frowning when Dean took that opportunity to interject his two cents. "He's right, Chance. Your arm's bleeding again."

"Boy if you hadn't just been shot..." She blurted out, scowling at him then threw her arms up in defence when the men in front of her decided that Bobby would keep an eye on Sam long enough for Dean to patch her up. "For the record? I hate it when you gang up on me." She mumbled out as she followed Dean into the bathroom. It was useless to fight him on it and just let him wrap her arm up in gauze so that they could get back to attending to Sam. Once her arm was wrapped up, she nearly dragged him back into the living room just in time to see Sam regaining consciousness. Hanging back, she couldn't help but wince when Dean threw a bucket of holy water on his younger brother. She started to shrink back even further against the wall as Bobby began the exorcism. The entire time, Dean circled his brother's chair, demanding information that just wasn't being produced. But when a girl's name hit the air that she couldn't recognize, she raised an eyebrow slightly.

No one had a second to let her know before all hell practically broke loose. Sound emitted from her lips when Bobby pitched back against the cluttered desk behind him, her own body being thrown against the wall behind her. She hit the floor, blinking in surprise just as her boyfriend hit the ground as well. Looking up, she swore loudly when the ceiling started to crack, breaking the Key of Soloman above their heads. All she could do was stay on the ground as Bobby and Dean raced to keep Sam in place. But it didn't work. He broke free from the chair and pinned his older brother against the bookcase not too far from where she was laying. Her stomach started to churn as she listened to them, the sounds alternating between words and Dean's agony as Sam's fingers dug into the bullet wound in his shoulder. Thinking quickly, she'd finally remembered the mark on Sam's arm and what it meant. Climbing to her feet, she carefully ran across the room toward her dad and grabbed a nearby fire poker that was still hot from being in the fireplace. She couldn't help but silently thank Bobby as she slid across the floor to Sam, easily grabbing his arm before she slammed the tip against his skin. But the poker didn't stay in her hands, or against his arm very long before she was pushed backward. The poker went skidding across the floor as the back of her head knocked onto the wooden leg of the desk. Slacking for a second, she lifted her head up enough to see black smoke starting to fill the air. It had worked and the demon controlling Sam began to flood past his lips as he screamed. The sound made her sick to her stomach as she stayed where she was, leaning heavily against the desk behind her. Bobby moved closer to the Winchester boys as Sam collapsed back against the bookcase his brother was leaning against.

Looking around, he just frowned slightly and shook his head slightly. "What'd I miss?"

Chance finally laughed to herself when Dean only answered by leaning up and hitting his brother. Shaking her head, she just sighed and collapsed back against the floor. It was only when Bobby appeared over her that she finally moved, wincing as she rose to her full height. The blows to the back of her head were starting to catch up to her and it was actually Sam that caught her when she stumbled. "Ow." She mumbled out weakly, one hand moving into her hair against the back of her head.

"Let's get her to the couch." Bobby announced then fell silent as Sam picked her up carefully then sat her down. Sighing, she just reclined against the couch but yelped in surprise when her thigh was slapped. "I was trying to fall asleep!" She snapped, smacking Dean's uninjured arm when she realized that he'd been the one to smack her.

"You probably have a concussion. You can't sleep." Bobby replied as he sat down across from her. He actually grinned, but shook his head when she reached out and kicked him lightly in the leg. "Or not since you're obviously feeling okay."

"Well it's not like I asked to get knocked in the head twice." She mumbled out then quickly shot Sam a sheepish look. "No offence or anything."

"Okay what the hell did I do?!" He blurted out only to frown when no one answered him. Chance even stayed silent at that but slowly found her voice as she shrugged and tried to play it off. "You just...got possessed and tried to kill us. Y'know, nothing major." She shrugged and moved to sit up but yelped when she went flying backward.

"Oh no you don't! Sit your little butt back down and explain." Sam demanded, not even blinking when Chance shot him a chilling look.

"Like I said! You were possessed, did some stuff. Stole a car, smoked menthol cigarettes, downed a forty..." Trailing off, she realized how gross that sounded and wrinkled her nose. "Ew, by the way. And you kinda tried to kidnap me."

Sam just sighed and slid a hand over his forehead before turning to look at her again. But just as he was about to apologize, her hand flattened over his mouth. "Say it and you die." She warned, finding no reason in the world for him to apologize because of one little demonic possession.

Bobby and Dean just snickered and shook their heads before the older man began to talk about the guy that Sam had killed. That was one memory that he wished he could forget about. But that was sadly one of two times he had been coherent during the possession. A few more sentences were exchanged before the boys got up to leave, Chance moving slowly between them. She glanced over at her dad and idly started to mess with the pendant around her neck as Bobby produced two charms; one for each boy. "They'll ward off anymore demonic possessions. Keep them on you."

"What about Chance?" Dean questioned as he took his, inspecting it before it was shoved into his pocket.

Glancing sheepishly at him, she just held up her necklace slightly. "Already got one."

"So that's why you never told me what it was!" He mumbled in awe then shook his head as he pouted slightly. "No trust, I feel the love Chance."

Rolling her eyes, she just pushed him toward the door before moving to hug Bobby. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Always do." He replied with a lazy grin and kissed the top of her head as he rubbed her back carefully.

"I love you, Dad." She replied quietly then pulled away from him, ducking her head as she shoved her hands into her pockets. All of this had been a bit of an eye-opening experience and she wasn't going to take it lightly. Bobby just grinned at the young woman standing in front of him then kissed the top of her head again before he looked at Dean then Sam. "You two take care of my kiddo, you got it? Don't make me come outta retirement."

The boys just laughed as she rolled her eyes and lightly punched Bobby's arm. "Aww, ya old softie." She joked then gave him one last hug before the headed out of the house. Sighing, she just stopped on the porch and looked around for a second; not being able to shake the feeling that this was the last time she would get to see this place, or him, for a while.


	30. Chapter 30

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** In this part of the story, the character of Madison (Heart) was taken out. With the direction I took, I couldn't really have her still in and make everything work. So the character of Grace has taken Madison's part._

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty:**

Chance didn't say anything as she lay in yet another hotel room. They were still on the outskirts of some place in Nevada, having just finished up a job that had shaken her to the very core. There were still a few things that she hadn't fully gotten over, but was keeping it all to herself. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was give Dean and, or Sam more to worry about. That wasn't apart of the plan, not after the last hunt they'd gone on.

A girl by the name of Molly had turned up in the middle of the road, both boys pretending that she was just a stranded traveler. It wasn't until later that the truth came out. She had died almost fifteen years ago, after hitting a man who had been on the same highway as them. At first, they had been hunting the man with the assumption that he was just a vengeful spirit plucking drivers off the side of the highway. But that wasn't the truth. It had made Chance's heart ache when they took her back to the house David had ended up living in, only to see him kissing the woman he had married after losing Molly. But all of that was behind them now and Dean even sat at the table beside her, searching for their next location. Sighing, she turned onto her side, facing him and curled up. The headache she'd been nursing for a while was steadily starting to get worse, but she could only assume that it was just a headache. No visions were accompanying it and that kind of worried her. There was a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't get over how wrong things felt.

Dean had been watching her for close to an hour, having the same uneasy feeling surrounding him. She didn't look okay and he couldn't help but wonder if a vision was just around the corner. But the thing that bugged him the most was the fact that Sam seemed to feel and act the same way Chance was. Moving from the desk, he sighed and slid onto the bed, moving to lay in front of her as he lightly dragged a hand down her back. "Hey, talk to me."

She lifted her head and looked up at him as she reached up to push hair away. "Something doesn't feel right." She replied quietly, not wanting to talk too loudly and risk waking up Sam. He'd just fallen asleep and she didn't want to ruin things for him just because she couldn't close her eyes for longer than two minutes at a time.

"What do you think it is?" He asked quietly, falling silent long enough to get situated before she curled up against his side. Sighing, she just shrugged as she drew random designs against his tee shirt. "I can't really explain it, but whatever it is, it's big. And obviously it's connected to both me and Sam since he's been feeling the same way."

Dean nodded but before he could say or do anything else, Chance's phone began to ring. Turning, she picked it up and quickly flipped it open when she recognized Grace's number. "What's up, babydoll?" She asked quietly and laid her head back against his chest. But when all she heard was crying and Grace's sobbing for them to come get her, she was upright yet again. Swallowing thickly a few times, she just agreed quietly then vaulted off the bed in one swift motion. "We gotta go."

"What is it?" He asked and sat up as Sam started to stir in his sleep.

Rubbing her forehead, she sighed and let her hand drop against her jeaned thigh. "Grace's been attacked. Now come on, we gotta go." She forced out, moving over to kick Sam in the leg before packing. Dean knew better than to argue with her, especially when her mind was made up. And it was him that filled his brother in when he sleepily asked what was going on. Almost as soon as he heard Grace's name and 'attacked' in the same sentence, he was moving as fast as Chance was.

* * *

No one said anything as the foursome sat in Grace's living room. She had recently moved to San Francisco after leaving them back in Rhode Island. It was obvious that Chance wasn't going to resume a normal life in their previous hometown and just wanted to escape bad memories. But she had only been in town a few months when she was randomly attacked. It was something she hadn't called them about right after it happened, because that sort of thing was just a sad way of life. She hadn't wanted to worry them but when she turned up at work and found her co-worker dead, that raised some flags in her mind.

Chance rubbed the back of her neck as she stood at the large set of windows taking up a wall of Grace's new living room. She couldn't believe that all of this was happening, and to her best friend of all people. She had seen the mark on the back of her neck and had instantly known what it was. Dean and Sam also knew what it was they were hunting, but Sam refused to believe that it had anything to do with Grace. Her head snapped to the side when the question of what they were going to do was asked. Truth be told, she had no idea of what they could do. It hadn't been proven yet whether or not anything would come of the fear started to set in the back of their minds.

Turning slowly, she noticed the look on Sam's face and it broke her heart. He was in such denial that she almost wished she could feel the same way. But she knew better. Grace knew what was out there in the dark, and she couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach that her best friend had fallen prey to one of the horrors. "We need to make sure something actually came of the attack."

Dean looked up when he heard her voice and found himself nodding before his eyes switched from his girlfriend, to the girl sitting in the middle of them all. "Did you get a good look at the person who attacked you?"

"No." Grace admitted quietly. "I don't even remember everything that happened. I'd heard about the deaths down by the pier but...I didn't really know what had done it."

"It was a werewolf." Dean announced, not glancing at Sam or Chance as he spoke. "That might've been what attacked you."

"The werewolf in human form?" As soon as she asked the question, her heart sank to her stomach. It sounded logical since that was where she had been when she was attacked. Business was being conducted down there, work she hadn't been able to get out of. Scratching the back of her neck, she blew out a low breath as she lightly rubbed her hands together. "So now what?" She asked and looked at Sam before looking at Chance. "Wait to see if I change and if I do, kill me?"

"No!" It was Chance that pushed the single word past her throat before Sam could. There was no way she was going to be able to just sit by and let this consume her life. She had come to terms with her own life being intertangled in supernatural forces. But for it to be happening to Grace? That was just unacceptable. She hadn't been able to save Eric, but she was damn sure going to try and save his baby sister. "There's gotta be some way to reverse a werewolf's bite. We have to be able to get her out of this."

"Chance..." Dean sighed as the sentence trailed off. This was a conversation he didn't really want to be having with her, especially with Grace in the room. Shaking his head slowly, he looked up sharply when his girlfriend began to give orders. "Okay, you two need to figure out a way to reverse this. We also need to find the person...thing, whatever that attacked her and kill him." She replied, looking at the brothers in determination before she looked over at Grace. "You're not dying. I refuse to let that happen."

* * *

Sam stayed silent as he stood in front of the large window overlooking the San Francisco skyline. So much had happened in the past few days and it was taking all he had to process everything. Grace had turned out to be a werewolf and he was hoping like hell that severing the bloodline between her and the man that had attacked her would be enough to keep the transformation from happening. Chance and Dean had stayed with them all night, making sure that if she did change, there would be enough people in the apartment to keep her from getting loose and hurting someone.

The sun was finally coming up and Grace breathed a silent sigh of relief. Once the sound hit the air, she turned to look at her best friend then at the man she considered to be her boyfriend. "So that's it, right? Everything's over?"

"It looks that way." Chance replied as she moved from her place beside Dean on the couch to stand by her friend. The entire time, she just hoped she wasn't speaking prematurely. "Or at least, I'm hoping it looks that way." She had some doubts, but those were getting pushed out of the way as she watched Sam and Grace envelope each other in a tight hug. She could still hear Bobby's words from the phone call she'd placed outside of the apartment. According to him, there was no reversing werewolf transformations.

Noticing his brother holding Grace in an almost-deathgrip, he lightly grabbed Chance's arm and cleared his throat. "We'll...uh, leave you two alone."

She noticed things as well and started to nod silently in agreement with her boyfriend. Giving Grace a tight hug, she just sighed then stepped back as she smiled weakly. "Call if you need anything, okay?" The brunette nodded and the blonde stared at her even more intently. "I mean it. Anything happens and my phone better start ringing."

Grace couldn't help but snicker as she nodded. "I got it, I promise. Now go spend some time with your boy, okay? I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Sam announced and laced an arm around her shoulders as he grinned weakly at Chance. "We'll be okay for a few hours."

She raised an eyebrow slightly but forced herself not to snicker when she saw the look overcome his features. Conceeding, she raised her hands up in surrender as she backed toward the door. Waving one last time, she sighed and turned to leave, Dean walking out of the apartment seconds after her.


	31. Chapter 31

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One:**

Chance didn't say a word as she stood in Grace's living room yet again. Her mind was still buzzing with the look that had been on Sam's face when he banged on the door of their hotel room. She wasn't blind and knew what had gone on after she and Dean left. From what she could tell, they had celebrated with the flying of clothes and had ended up falling asleep. Sam had woken up just in time to see Grace transformed and jumping out of the window. Almost as soon as she heard that, her heart sank and had yet to move back up into her chest. She was going to have to kill her best friend.

Dean could easily tell what was going through his girlfriend's mind. Since they had left the hotel room, she didn't touch him. That was the one thing she did when things got tough. This was probably the most personal job they had been on thus far, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that things were just going to get worse from here. He stood up as well and pulled the gun from the back of his jeans. This was the part he had been dreading the most, bringing up the subject of shooting Grace.

Grace noticed Dean's movements and sighed quietly as she looked around at the faces staring at her. "So who's going to be the one to do it?" Her stomach lurched instantly when she saw Chance look away and Sam's chin drop to his chest. She hated that things had come to this but the alternative scared her far worse than living with this. She had become a monster. It was no one's fault and they had done all they could to save her. But there was no being saved from this. There was only acceptance. Walking up to her best friend, she noticed the look on her face and carefully pulled her into the other room, away from the guys. "Chance, talk to me."

"About what?" She asked and finally looked at the other woman. "I refuse to believe that this is the only option we have left. I refuse!"

"You called Bobby, right?" She asked as she leaned against a nearby counter. She already knew the answer and could easily see the blonde wrestling with herself. "I know you did and I also know that severing the blood line isn't going to work. There's only one option here for me."

"I refuse to lose you too." She blurted out, tears pricking the back of her eyes as she watched her friend's movements. "I couldn't save Eric, but I can save you."

"Yeah," Grace nodded and smiled sadly. "You can. You can put a bullet through my head and save me from killing anyone else. Chance, I can't...I can't live like this."

Swearing mentally, she shuffled her feet before leaning against the island that was now separating them. The same island that she had played 'Rock, Paper, Sissor' with Sam over who would be staying with Grace. "But we can lock you up. We can...we can watch out for you. I can watch out for you!"

"No, you can't." Grace hated saying the words almost as much as Chance loathed hearing them. They had hit a dead end and there was nothing else that could be done. "You know that if we were to try that, you'd just be waiting on the day when I would break out. And what would you do if I tried to attack you? Or if I tried to hurt Sam again? I don't want to live with that hanging over my head." She announced then sighed quietly as she raised up to her full height. "That's why I want you to stay in here while Dean pulls the trigger. I can't ask that much of you or Sam. Dean's already told me that he can do it, I trust him."

Chance quickly started to shake her head as she swiped the back of her hand over her eyes. "No, if anyone's going to do it, it's going to be me. I was the one that promised to keep you safe. I won't let Dean do this. He...he's already having to deal with the possibility of having to kill either me or Sam. We can't put this on him too."

"Are you sure?" Grace didn't want to ask, but by the same token; she wanted to be absolutely sure that she wasn't asking more of her best friend than she could handle. The blonde had already been through so much and she didn't want her blood on Chance's hands. "This is asking a lot of you, C."

"I don't care." She announced and steeled herself up as she gestured for the other woman to follow her back into the other room. Once they had rejoined the guys, she sighed heavily and looked down at her feet. It was killing her that she was about to have to shoot her best friend with Sam crying in the other room. He had lost the battle against the tears and they were evident against his cheeks. "Grace and I talked, we want you two to either wait in the other room or leave the apartment all together. If anyone's going to shoot her, I'm going to do it."

Sam instantly started to shake his head as he reached over and grabbed the gun that Dean had laid on a nearby table. "No, Chance. You're still clean in all of this. Besides, I don't want you to have to carry this."

"Why are you fighting me on this?" Chance breathed out before she could fully stop herself. She knew that Sam was going to fight her on it, and instead of keeping up the battle of words, she just looked at her best friend. The fear was clear in her eyes as she stared at the younger Winchester. "Ultimately, it's up to Grace. I think we should let her decide."

Grace sighed and folded her arms over the front of the button down shirt she had stolen from Sam when she changed. "I think Sam should do it." She announced quietly then moved an arm around Chance's waist. "You did what you could, okay? I know that and I have nothing against you. This is just how things went down and I'm okay with that." She announced and braved a smile before turning the younger girl around to face her. "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, girlie. Let Sam do this for me, okay? I want you to let Dean take you out into the hall. I can't go through with this if you're still in here."

More cuss words began to float through Chance's mind as she once again stared down at her shoes. She was having more than a hard time with this, but could understand why she wanted Sam to be the one to pull that trigger. It hurt to think about it and all she really wanted to do was throw up. "I'm not leaving the apartment. I'll be in the other room, but I can't..."

Grace just nodded and wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you, you're the best friend a girl could ever ask for." She whispered, rubbing Chance's back as she rested her chin on the blonde's leather-clad shoulder. "Eric would be so proud of you and I want you to look out for the guys, okay? I also want you to let them look out for you." All Chance could do was nod as she listened to the words drifting into her ears. Giving her one last squeeze, she abruptly disentangled herself from Grace and looked over at Sam. "Don't make her suffer." It felt very lame to say, but it was the only thing she could think to say. Giving Grace one last look, more tears began to spill from her eyes as she turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Dean followed suit almost minutes later, having said his goodbyes and words of apology before going to find his girlfriend. Walking through the entry way slowly, he reached out and lightly touched her arm, which was rigid. She was facing the island, her arms bracing her as she tried to keep from sobbing openly. Bowing her head, he had just flattened his chest against her back when one shot rang through the air. That was all Chance seemed to need as she collapsed back against her boyfriend, her closed eyes providing no barrier between the tears and her cheeks. He easily caught her and pulled her around to face him, one hand burying in the back of her hair as she began to sob into his shirt. Her entire body was shaking and it took all he had in him to not openly cry as well. But when he saw his brother walk into the room, he began to teeter on the verge. Chance heard the same movements and pulled her face from Dean's shirt. Sliding out of his arms, she remained silent as she threw her arms around Sam's neck. He only allowed himself to break ever so slightly as he hugged her smaller frame up against his. Everyone in the room was feeling the loss, but it was hardest hitting on Sam and Chance. The two that were even more closely bound than before.

* * *

"I still can't believe you decided to make us end up here." Chance mumbled as she stood on a movie set. They had ended up in LA after leaving Grace's apartment. The boys had disappeared while Chance called the death in, lying through her teeth to the cops about what happened. Prints had also been dusted away, and the 'murder weapon' had left the room with Dean. The cops seemed appeased by what she had told them. She had cited that she was in town, visiting Grace who had been stalked for quite some time. That was believable since there was documentation of Grace's attack. She had just said that she had been out sight-seeing when she came back and found her best friend lying on the floor, with a gunshoot wound to the heart. And against the cops' wishes, she had skipped town.

"Oh come on!" Dean announced as he threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her closely up to his body. "We need this. You definitely do. Don't you miss being normal?"

"Normal?" She asked and tilted her head slightly to stare up at him, which was hard given the glaring lights over their heads. "What's that?"

He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it when Sam came up behind them. They had come onto the set and instantly assumed to be PAs. Chance had to laugh at the situation originally, but as they had gotten further into the thick of things, this was no laughing matter. Whoever had decided to put this film into production was seriously whacked in the head. A horror film that was more accurate than they assumed it was. Too bad it was a crappy ass film. Shaking her head, she just shoved his arm off her shoulder when the 'star' of the show, who Dean had the lusties for, walked up to them. "Well, I guess your work here's done, huh? Since production's put on hold and everything."

Dean just grinned and shrugged unevenly, not even bothering to look at Sam or Chance. She just shook her head and turned to walk away, punching her boyfriend's back before she got too far away. "Someday I'm gonna seriously hurt him." She mumbled out, causing Sam to snicker. She finally grinned and lightly shoved the younger brother as they headed off set. "Come on Lanky, let's wait for Loverboy in the car. And if he ends up banging her?" She stopped and pointed up toward the ceiling. "He's going to wish he were some kind of demon."

Sam just chuckled again and rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what the pair was doing and while it was working, he still liked to pretend that it wasn't. He still hadn't gotten over Grace's death yet, but knowing that Chance hadn't either was oddly comforting. "You really think he'd do that?"

"Am I supposed to answer that?" She mumbled out, looking over at him in innocent curiosity as they reached the car. Turning around, she leaned against the back fender and folded her arms against her chest. "I'd be gross and revealing but...yeah. Not feeling like it."

"Well I thank you for that. I really don't want...or need to know if you and my brother are getting it on."

She instantly wrinkled her nose and lightly slapped his arm as she laughed quietly. "Ew! Dude, you're normally in the bed beside ours! I don't perform for an audience. Besides...I still have issues to work through."

Sam just nodded, catching on to what she was hinting at and leaned against the car. Dean suddenly appeared and Chance raised an eyebrow as he walked up, rubbing the back of his neck. "She gave you her number, didn't she?"

"What? No." He announced, clearly lying as he walked around the car and wrenched the door open. "Let's get outta here, shall we?"

"Aww poor Little Miss Horror Queen. No romps with the unofficial Ghostbuster." Chance pretended to pout but grinned when Sam started to laugh behind her. Sticking her tongue out at Dean, she quickly darted into the backseat, making sure to stay far enough away from him that he couldn't retaliate.

"Why do I put up with her again?" He wondered aloud, looking at his baby brother as Sam climbed into the car as well.

"Cause you love me." She cooed, stretching the L word out a few beats before she got settled against the back seat. "Plus you're scared of me. No sense denying it, Sam already ratted you out."

"Bitch!" Dean blurted out and smacked his brother's shoulder. Sam, who was laughing, just punched his brother and grinned. "Jerk."


	32. Chapter 32

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two:**

Chance didn't even think about flinching as her cell phone bounced off a nearby wall. She had just gotten a phone call from Dean, saying that he and Sam were going on a hunt and that she was to stay behind. According to him, the boys had a debt to repay to an old Marine buddy of John's. She had heard about the guy in passing while growing up with the boys, but she still didn't know all of the details. But after hearing the determination in Dean's voice, she agreed that she would stay where she was and made him promise to let her know if she was needed.

Raking a hand through her hair, she just plopped down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. Her boyfriend had just landed himself in jail and there was nothing she could do to help him. Dean had been pretty adamant about them having a plan for getting out and that was where she came into play. All she knew was that she was supposed to be in a certain place, with the Impala and their belongings, at a certain time. But that didn't mean that she wasn't worried. The guy whose debt they were repaying was someone she had yet to meet. And deep down, she really felt like she needed to meet him just so she could make sure that things were moving on the straight and narrow. Climbing to her feet, she just sighed and changed clothes, piling on a pair of jeans with a tank top and one of Dean's many button down shirts with the sleeves open against her hands. Once her leather jacket and boots were on, she snatched up everything she would need and left the hotel room she'd been locked up in for the past two days.

To say that she was more than nervous as she walked through the prison, was the understatement of the year. She could only hope that the boys expelled whatever spirit they were after and got out so they could get back out on the road. It scared her to the core to think of them both in prison, especially after she heard that the agent that had caught up with them in Wisconsin was now in Arkansas. That was scaring her more than the boys actually being in jail! Though she was tempted to try and see if she could sneak out copies of their mugshots... Shoving her hands into the pocket of her jacket, she looked up when a guy approached her. "You must be Deacon." She mumbled out, walking with the older man when he led her away from everyone.

"You're Chance?" He questioned, having heard a little about her through Dean. He was fully aware of the plan that the Winchesters were working on to escape from the prison. The least he could do was help them escape since he had been the one to ask them to sacrifice their freedom in order to help him out. But things were looking kind of hectic since they were planning breaking out in less than twenty-four hours, but yet the spirit they were hunting was still running loose in the prison. "I'm glad you came by. I wanted to thank you for your hand in all of this."

"The boys owe you on behalf of John." She mentally shrugged it off and leaned against the wall behind her. "I've never been able to stand in their ways once they have their mind made up. I should be the one thanking you. I know it can't be easy to put yourself on the line the way you are."

"It's the least I can do. As long as I have the peace of mind that they're out there doing what John taught them to do, I can handle letting them do what they have to." Deacon was choosing his words very careful. The last thing any of them needed was someone catching wind of what they were planning and possibly stepping in the way. "I hear they have a Fed on their tail."

She nodded and scratched the back of her neck as she sighed. "Yeah, the guy showed up back in Wisconsin so he's trying to nail them to the wall again."

Deacon just snickered and shook his head slightly as he watched the younger girl's movements. "Just how many times do they plan on proving that they can't be caught?"

"As many times as it takes?" She offered out with an uneven shrug of her shoulders. Clearing her throat, she raised up to her full height and sighed. "Okay, I hate asking this but...is there any way I can get in to see Dean? If I can just see him, and see that he's okay, it'll help me...deal with this easier."

Deacon had to admit, hearing about Dean being in a serious, and honest relationship had startled him. But after only a few minutes with Chance, he could easily see why the older Winchester had decided to take a risk on her. She easily looked like the type of woman that could give the Winchesters a run for their money, and from the limited amount of knowledge he had about her, that was a safe assumption. Thinking for a second, he found himself nodding before he helped her through the process of becoming a visitor that could see inmates.

Chance mumbled her thanks, pretending that he was just another guard as she stepped into the wide common area known as the visitation room. Because he was considered a low-grade prisoner, they weren't required to have any kind of separation. But almost as soon as she saw him, dressed in an orange jumpsuit with bruises and cuts marring his face, she couldn't help the feeling of tears pricking at the back of her eyes. "Hey." She mumbled out, not sure if she was allowed to touch him or not.

The first thing Dean noticed about her appearance was the morose look on her face. An expression that he had only seen a handful of times. Not caring who saw, he quickly swept her up into a hug as Sam came up behind him. She stepped back, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes before a hug was given to Sam. "For the record? I hate seeing you two in orange." She cracked, doing her best to make light of the situation as she sat down at a round visitation table, Dean sitting next to her while Sam took up residence across from her.

Dean couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips, but no one overlooked the fact that Sam had chosen to stay silent. Clearing his throat, the older Winchester shuffled his feet against the ground lightly before resting his hands on the table. "I'm sorry...that you're being put through this."

Chance instantly shook her head and resisted the urge to smack him. Last thing in the world she needed was to end up on charges of assaulting a prisoner. Especially one that looked like Dean. "Don't. No apologies." She mumbled out then sucked in a low breath before letting it out slowly. "So what can I do to help?"

"We need information about a nurse." Dean blurted out only to shoot his younger brother a sharp look when he started to protest. "We still have time."

Sam just shook his head and looked away, leaning back slightly before he decided to stop fighting the topic of conversation and just joined in. "We also need you to bring the Impala."

"I already knew that." Her voice broke through easily, given how quiet Sam's was when he started to mention their escape plan. "I got the letter you left." She mumbled out and glanced at Dean before she looked at her hands. "What kind of information? What nurse?" She fell silent after that and listened as Dean told her everything he knew about the ghost that had attacked him in the Infirmiry and killed yet another prisoner. She just nodded, but right before she could say anything, a guard appeared beside her and announced that visiting hours were over. Cussing the guard out fluently, in her mind, she rose to her feet and shoved her hands into the pockets of the leather jacket that made her feel grossly out of place. "I'll, uh, I'll see you guys." She nodded and braved a smile. At first it was aimed at Sam, telling him everything that she couldn't say. He smiled back then slowly walked away, giving her just a second with her boyfriend. "Keep an eye out for me." She replied quietly, yet cryptically. Winking at him, she just blew him a kiss before turning on her heel. As much as it hurt her to not be able to take them with her as she walked out of the prison, she knew that the boys had work to do. The job didn't wait, no matter what situation they had found themselves in. But as she headed back out to the Impala, she had pretty much made up her mind that they owed her for this one. More than owed her, actually.

* * *

Dean stayed silent as he looked at the grave in front of him. The hardest part was supposed to be over, but yet it wasn't. The nurse's spirit was gone, the boys were out of prison, and he once again had Chance standing next to him, her arms linked around his. Scratching the back of his neck, he just looked around then motioned for them to start getting things together. Their public defender had caught Chance as she was coming back into the prison to give them everything she had found out about the spirit they needed to get rid of. The one that had attacked Dean. She had tried to stay as tight-lipped as possible, saying that she was just sending her boyfriend a love letter but it didn't go over so well. Mara Daniels refused to let her go until she told her everything, saying that she could possibly be messing with their case by giving him a letter.

That had only been the start of their problems. There was no lawyer-client privileges between them and she had nothing keeping her from telling Agent Henriksen exactly where they had gotten off to and why. In the back of her mind, Chance hoped that she wouldn't tell, but she barely knew the woman. Lightly pulling on Dean's arm, she just stayed silent as the boys quickly packed up and started to jog toward the Impala, her close behind them.

No one seemed to say anything, other than Dean making a joke about how screwed they now were, but he was secretly hoping that no one had or would ever know that it was Deacon and Chance that had enabled their escape from Henriksen. Lightly drumming his fingers against the wheel, there was no doubt in his mind that they needed to get as far away from Little Rock as possible, but with no new destination in mind, he wasn't really sure of how far away was good enough.

Chance sat curled up in the backseat as she stared out the window in front of her. Scenery was flying by her at an-almost dizzying pace but this was one time that she honestly didn't mind in the least. She wanted as far away from Arkansas as possible. Any place was better than the place they all seemed to want to be escaping from. Sighing quietly, she just ran a hand through her hair then leaned her head back slightly to watch Dean drive. His face would be marred with this hunt for a while, much like the tiny scar that still lined her throat from their last trip to Georgia. But in the back of her mind, she was pretty positive that these were wounds they wouldn't soon forget. The visible reminders of the times when they had nearly lost each other to the lives they had been born into.


	33. Chapter 33

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Three:**

Dean was more than beside himself as he pushed the Impala to it's fullest limit. Now in Joliet, Illinois; they were on a new case with the memories of Little Rock as far behind them as possible. But not long after they had entered Joliet city limits, things had gone from pretty bad to even worse. They were on the hunt for a Djinn that had ended up taking Chance. She had been out by herself, something that very rarely happened and he was kicking himself even more for letting her out of his sight. But they had gotten lucky and Sam had been able to find where the demonic genie was hiding out, keeping his victims and doing Hell knew what. Throwing the car into park as soon as he reached his destination, the engine died and he practically ran into the building. But just as soon as he reached the interior of the rundown building, he had to force himself to calm down and focus. Getting himself killed wasn't going to help Chance any, especially if he found the Djinn before he found her. Slowly moving through the building, the knife in his hand visible, he didn't get a good look at the monster before it attacked him. A loud grunt passed his lips as he was slammed back into a wall, the knife in his hand promptly falling to the floor as the Djinn further advanced on him. Making one more futile attempt at getting away, there was no such luck as everything around him went black and his body went limp against the Djinn.

* * *

Chance moaned weakly as she slowly started to wake up. Her eyes were slow in opening as her leg moved languidly underneath the blanket that covered only a small part of her body. Not recognizing any of her surroundings, she lifted her head and looked around a little more. Almost as soon as she saw the wall in front of her, she quickly bolted upright and turned to see more of the room she had woken up in. A room she had never been in before. She couldn't help but rub her eyes as she started to look around more then shook her head slowly. Slowly climbing out of the bed, she looked down and found herself even more confused when she saw a very familiar shirt covering her frame. A shirt that she hadn't had in her possession for a very long time. A shirt she had lost during one of many trips in the middle of the night to a new location. But the thing that surprised her the most was the expanded belly that had been attached to her body. "No way in Hell..." She mumbled out, slowly running her hands over the new curve of her stomach before her arms quickly dropped back to her sides. But before she could inspect her surroundings, or her body any further, her head snapped to the side when she felt eyes on her. Dean's eyes.

"You okay?" He asked, an obvious look of concern on his features as he watched her slowed movements. There was no mistaking the look of utter confusion on her face and that caused him to worry at a little as well. This was something he had never seen before, her touching her stomach the way she had just been.

"I...don't know." She mumbled out and let herself look around a little more, even going so far as to move away from the bed she'd woken up in. Pictures lined the wall in front of her. All of various people that she could only assume were in her life. There were a few pictures of them as children, laughing and playing alongside a smaller version of Sam. She couldn't help but smile as she touched a few of the framed photographs, but when she got to one of her, or an older version of herself, she froze and couldn't tear her eyes away from it. Her slender body was drapped in a long, flowy white dress, her stomach protruding slightly from her body as she stood curled against Dean's side. He was in a suit, but that wasn't the thing that surprised her the most. What surprised her was that Bobby was standing beside her, with John grinning next to his son. Shaking her head slowly, she just backed away from the wall and nearly jumped out of her skin when Dean appeared beside her, his hand on her arm. "Okay, now I know you aren't okay."

"I just...where are we?" She couldn't help but ask as she looked up at him blankly. Everything was flooding through her at a dizzying rate and she officially had no damn idea just what was going on or where and how she had ended up standing next to him, obviously very pregnant.

"We're in Lawrence." He replied, his grip on her arm tightening slightly as he slowly began to steer her back toward the bed. "What's wrong? You've never woken up this disoriented before. I know you have some pretty whacked out dreams but..."

Opening her mouth to say something, she only got a small sound out before yet another figure entered the room. This time it was Bobby. Her eyes widened in surprise as she slowly rose from the bed and quickly crossed over to her legal father. "Hey Bobby."

"Yeah." The older man drawled out slowly, looking at her as if she had officially grown another head. "Were you dreaming again?"

Once again, Chance's mouth opened but no sound came out. Instead she just threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm just...really happy to see you. That's all." She nodded and slowly backed up, doing her best to carry a genuine grin as she looked from Bobby to Dean, who sat in utter bewilderment on the bed. "Sorry, I just had a really disturbing dream. It's just...taking me a couple of seconds to snap out of it." She lied, her facial expressions thankfully still holding a smile as she drapped a hand on the top of her belly. Almost as soon as her hand rested against the shirt that had once belonged to Dean, she couldn't help but giggle then wince when she felt a painful, yet fluttering sensation right where her hand had ended.

Dean was at her side in almost an instant, one arm curling around the small of her back as the other hovered over her hand. "The baby kicking again?"

Grinning up at him, she just nodded then leaned up and kissed him quickly before she looked down and flattened her hand against her belly, giggling again when a little foot came up to bounce off her hand. "Wow, yeah. It's really getting it too."

Confusion washed over Dean's features again as he looked over the top of Chance's bent head to stare at Bobby. She was only two weeks away from her due date and they had known that she was carrying a little girl from the moment she had hit her fifth month. Clearing his throat, he just nodded when Bobby mouthed that he was going back into the living room and he looked down at the woman standing in front of him in utter disbelief. "Why don't we go get you some food, okay? She usually kicks when you're craving something that makes me want to cringe."

Her eyes snapped up onto his in almost an instant, eyelids practically disappearing as the new piece of information sunk into her mind. Nodding quickly, she almost realized just how hungry she was then held a hand up. "I...just have a tee shirt on. No shorts." She announced, one hand dropping to feel against her bare thigh.

Dean just grinned and shook his head slightly before kissing her temple. "Now you get bashful. You've walked out into the living room in less, with more people around. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," She nodded and smiled again as she moved away from him to look around the room for some kind of sign as to where clothes would be. "I'm just not really wanting a draft right now."

That caused a snicker to pass his lips before he hung his head slightly then moved to grab a pair of boxers from one of his drawers. Gesturing at the bed, he rolled the elastic waistband up a couple of times then motioned for her to sit down. "Assume the position."

"Huh?" She blurted out and looked up at him in confusion before everything clicked and she nodded. "Oh! Yeah, duh. Sorry." She flashed him a sheepish look then carefully perched on the edge of the bed. It was pretty obvious that she couldn't put any kind of clothing on her lower body by herself with how big her belly was. Once the boxers were up around her knees, he carefully helped her up to her feet and she got the garment on the rest of the way. His shirt was smoothed out over the pair of boxers that fit pretty snug, given her expanded frame and she ran both hands through her hair. "Okay, tell me where I'm waddling."

Laughing again, Dean just shook his head and pointed at the door before slowly falling into step behind her. She managed to move pretty quickly, her mentality adjusting pretty quickly with the more she walked. Her eyes snapped over each and every new thing she passed in the small hallway, her breath nearly catching in her throat when she saw all the people in the living room. Seated on the couch was John, Sam stretched out on the floor in front of him, with Bobby perched in a chair near the couch. Stopping short, she blinked in surprise when Dean's chest hit her back, causing him to cuss lowly in surprise and grab her sides. Turning her head, she just gave him a look of confusion as she rubbed her forehead. But before she could get the question to pass her lips, something caught her eye and she felt even more confused than she had been when she woke up in the bedroom. A thin gold band circled her left ring finger, accompanied by a plain, yet the prettiest diamond ring she had ever seen in her life. Swallowing thickly, she blinked rapidly in surprise, waving people away when Bobby got up to meet her. Reaching behind her, she slowly pushed Dean's hands off her sides and made her way backward toward the bedroom she had just come out of.

Dean just looked at Bobby in confusion as Chance disappeared back into the darkness of the hallway. Whatever dream she'd woken up from, it must have been pretty bad if she had no idea what was going on around her. "I'll go." Bobby announced and lightly patted his shoulder before following his daughter's path. Finding her in the bedroom, he paused in the doorway long enough to watch her inspect the photographs she had insisted on putting up on the walls. "You spent an entire day arranging those. Don't tell me you already want to move them around or add more." He laughed, slowly advancing into the room as she blankly looked over at him.

Shaking her head slowly, she just sighed and flattened an arm around the curve of her belly. "No, I just...I think that dream messed me up more than I thought. I feel like I have no idea what I woke up to."

"That's...not good. Come sit down." He announced, but when he reached out to touch her, she quickly inched away. "I don't need to sit. I'm fine."

"Chance, you're nine months pregnant. You hafta be careful for your kiddo's sake."

Once again, tears started to fill her eyes as she slowly shook her head then looked down at her wedding rings. Bobby noticed and sighed heavily as his shoulders sagged. "Don't tell me that you're already regretting getting married."

Chance licked her lower lip lightly and slowly looked over at him. "Why would I regret...? Just because I was obviously pregnant." She mumbled and gestured at the first picture that had made her stop and think. "I was just...I was always surprised by how everything turned out."

"Everyone was, darlin'. You're not the only one."

"Even with the way we lived our lives?" She asked before she could stop herself, suddenly very desperate to seek some kind of answers as to how she had gotten to this place and what all had happened.

"What do you mean lived our lives? Chance, you grew up in Lawrence. You've known the Winchesters since you and Sam were babies. Your mother and Mary actually met when Mary went into labor with Sam."

"So I'm still two weeks older than him." She mumbled out, more to herself than to the man standing next to her. Her eyes flickered back to the wall of photographs and when one caught her eye, she swallowed thickly and quickly looked back at Bobby. "My mom..."

"Honey, you've always known where she is. You know she died when you were little."

"I...was a baby, right?" She blurted out, choosing right then to turn around to face him. "A...fire, right?"

"No." Bobby rushed out before he could really stop himself. "It was a car accident when you were seven. You were the only one that survived." He announced then raised an eyebrow at her yet again. "Why are we talking about this after so long?"

"I honestly don't know." She moaned and turned to crumple in a nearby chair that had been set up next to a particularly large window. Realizing that she was probably scaring him beyond belief, she just sighed and rubbed her forehead again before she managed a small smile at the man that had obviously raised her. "I guess I was just dreaming about it. I'll be fine, promise." He nodded but decided against saying anything when she moved to sit back down on the bed.

Realizing what she was doing, Bobby just smiled weakly and went over to the bed, gesturing for her to lay down as he grabbed blankets to cover her legs as she laid back. "Just get some sleep, okay? When you wake up again, I'll have some bacon and eggs waiting for you, okay? We gotta get you through the rest of the next few days so you can bring that little girl into the world."

Chance just nodded and managed a smile as she tried to get comfortable against the mattress she could not remember ever sleeping in before. But she managed to push at least a little of the confusion from her mind when sleep suddenly threatened to consume her. Not saying anything, she just grinned and winked at him when he blew her a kiss, something she could easily remember him doing in her younger years. Once he had left the room, she just sighed and held her left hand up to inspect, smiling a little more in disbelief when the diamond caught the light streaming in through the window and glintered. She officially had no idea what was going on, but she knew one thing. She was suddenly getting everything she could have ever wanted in life. Or at least, part of it.


	34. Chapter 34

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Four:**

Chance wasn't the only one suffering from the effects of the Djinn. While she was going through her own mental world, Dean had become trapped in one similar. Only it was a world that didn't have Chance in it. His one wish had been for the fire to never have happened. For his mother to of never died. And because of that, because of that one little secret wish, Chance had never existed in his world. But the thing that surprised him the most was the woman that he had woken up next to him. Carmen Porter was almost an exact replica of Chance and that stunned him beyond belief. But the more that he went through this world, the more he began to realize just how much he needed to be released from it. Because of that wish, not only had Chance never existed, but all the people they had saved over the years had perished in their run-ins with the paranormal. Carmen had gone to work and after finding a report on the news about a the year anniversary of a plane crash, Dean had decided to do some digging. Digging that had cut deeper than he could've ever realized.

Upon his search, he had found out that every single person he, Sam, and Chance had come in contact with had died. Chance had gone on to become Chance Morgan, with Grace as her sister-in-law. Finding their wedding announcement, with an accompanied wedding photograph made him realize just how much he would probably never have that life with her. As much as they tried to fight for some semblence of normalcy, it would never exist. They were fighting a losing battle, but yet, they were still fighting. Shaking his head slowly, he just sighed and pushed away from the laptop set up in front of him. The laptop that wasn't destroyed in the accident that had almost taken his life. Not getting too far into the movements of standing up, something caught his eye and forced him to move a little faster than he had been just minutes before. Walking into the bedroom that he was sharing with Carmen, sheer instinct carried him over to the closet. There was no mistaking his hand as it shook slightly, pulling the door open to find badly decomposing bodies staring back at him. Their hands were tied above their heads, necks looking about two steps away from snapping given the way they had ended up. Close to the verge of throwing up, confusion swept through him at an alarming rate as he turned on his heel. But the image standing in front of him had cut worse than the bodies in the closet. Chance stood in front of him, dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing when she had gotten taken, blood pouring from a wound on her forehead, and a cut marring her lower lip. But almost as soon as he reached out to touch her, she was gone. Looking around the room one more time, his eyes flickered to the open closet to see that only clothes were now hanging up. Shaking his head, he instinctively grabbed his jacket and quickly fled the apartment, only one real destination in mind. One that didn't exist in the world he knew as reality.

* * *

Chance stayed silent as she stood in front of her parents' joint tombstone. Dean had begun to appear to her as well, always when she was alone. An image that chilled her to the bone and forced her to remember that everything around her wasn't real. She wasn't about to give birth to their daughter, and the man in her life wasn't the Dean she had grown up knowing and loving. Lightly rubbing her expanded baby when the little life inside her started to move slightly, she bit back tears as she stared at her mother and father's embossed names. "Why can't I stay? Why can't I enjoy the world that I'm in now?" She sighed and hung her head slightly before she forced herself to go on, her voice seeming to bounce off of random surfaces in the silence. "We're happy. We're really happy. Everything worked out. We caught the demon that took you. I got pregnant and Dean married me." Almost as she said the last three words of her sentence, tears slipped from her eyes as she angrily leaned her head back. Resisting the urge to scream up into the darken skyline, she rubbed her eyes with both hands and cupped them against her lips as she looked at the tombstone in front of her. "Why do I have to sacrifice everything? Just because of the fact that I was targeted? Why did you have to die and not get to see me grow up? I swear, you'd probably hate the woman I've become. A woman that...that has no future." When no answer was given, she just sighed again and shook her head slowly as she started to back away from the graves in front of her. "I'm just...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She wasn't really sure why she was apologizing, or what she was apologizing for, but the words were bursting from her lips before she could stop them. Turning on her heel, she just clamped her teeth down over her lower lip and started to make the trek back to the small house she wished she could share with Dean for a while longer.

* * *

Dean was officially about two seconds away from slapping the hell out of the man standing next to him. This wasn't Sam. The Winchester standing beside him resembled nothing of the boy he had watched grow up. But then again, they hadn't been raised to be hunters. Or at least, this version of Sam hadn't. He had no clue of the life they could've possibly been in store for. He didn't know that in an alternate, a real reality, Jessica was dead and they hadn't been close to becoming engaged. This was the life he had always wished for his younger brother, but it wasn't a life that Dean belonged in. So when the pieces slowly started to come together, he didn't fight things. It wasn't right for him to stay while everything went on around him in reality. Chance was still out there somewhere and if he stayed, she would die. There wouldn't be anyone there to save her, or to save Sam.

That was the only thing fueling him as he faced off with the people now standing in front of him. The version of Sam standing in front of him had finally broken and he realized that the world around him was just in his head. The Djinn had created all of this and made him see it as his life was slowly being drained from him. Mary, Jess, and Carmen had come out of the shadows, Carmen being the first to come up to him and start the process of convincing him to stay.

"You're not Chance." He replied honestly, yet quietly once she had stepped back from kissing him. "You may love me, and I could really love you. But there's a girl I need to get back to. Yeah, it's a crappy life, but it's my life."

"But just think about everything you could have here. With us." Carmen drawled out, Jess coming in just seconds after her. "You won't have to watch out for Sam anymore. You can watch him be happy, live a long life."

"And Chance?" He blurted out, knowing that none of the figures standing in front of him had an idea of who she was. "She'll die. I'll die. The Djinn's going to bleed me dry. It's just a matter of days."

"But it'll feel like a lifetime." Mary broke in, taking Carmen's place in front of her son. Smiling weakly, she lightly swept a hand over her son's head and sighed quietly. "Get some rest. Stay here with us. Live the life that you've always wanted."

"It's not a life I want anymore." Dean mumbled out, shaking his head as he took a step back. "I can't." Those words seemed to chase the words that had just left his lips only seconds before he positioned the knife dipped in lamb's blood in front of him. "I'm sorry." He spoke in a clear, calm voice then promptly shoved the knife into his sternum.

* * *

"Dean!" Sam practically screamed as he stared at his brother's lifeless body. Slapping his cheeks, he grabbed his chin and shook it slightly, being careful of the tube protruding from under the collar of his jacket. "Wake up, come on. Wake up!"

A sound passed Dean's lips as he slowly came to, his body feeling like it weighed a ton. Relief surged through Sam as a small smile came across his features. "Auntie Em." He mumbled, lifting his head as best he could off his right arm.

"It's good to have you back, man." Sam grinned more, both hands now sprayed across his brother's cheeks.

"Get me down." Dean mumbled right as something caught his attention. "Sam, behind you!" He roared, standing useless as the Djinn came up behind Sam in attack mode. The two began to wrestle, but Sam was obviously losing as the knife in his hand clattered to the floor. Looking above him, adrenaline kicked in long enough for Dean to be able to rip the rope tying his arms above his head loose. Hands free, he managed to pick up the knife that Sam had dropped, shoving it into the Djinn's back just in time for the demon to die. Watching as it slumped to the ground, he quickly pulled Sam up to his feet then started to look around. "Chance's in here. We gotta find her."

That was all that Sam needed to regain his barings, moving to help the older Winchester search. But when he announced that his girlfriend had been found, Sam wasted no time rushing to his brother's side. Instinctively checking her pulse, relief hit Dean like a tidal wave as he handed the knife over to his sibling. "She's alive! Get her down."

The ropes holding Chance's arms up were cut then her unconscious form slumped into Dean's arms. "I got you." He mumbled out, pushing hair off her forehead as he tried to keep both her and himself standing upright. "We're getting you out of here. I got you, I promise."

* * *

Chance didn't say anything as she sat on the edge of a neatly made hotel bed. After being pulled from the warehouse, Dean had made sure she got checked out before the three of them were once again reunited. Dean had no real marks on his body, but the wound on her forehead had worried him enough to push her out into public for at least one night. But none of that registered as he watched her sit silently. He could still remember the life he had been pushed into, but had no idea what kind of world Chance had gone into when the Djinn trapped her. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked quietly, Sam moving to lean against the table across from them as he slowly sat down beside her. Sighing quietly, she leaned her head back then slowly started to mutely say no. "It's something I just want to forget." She mumbled and rose to her feet. Yet another sigh passed her lips as she ended up in front of the window overlooking the parking lot.

Dean fell silent and just stared at his brother before he locked eyes on the back of Chance's frame. "It was that bad?"

"No!" She exclaimed then turned and looked at him before her eyes flickered onto the younger man then back at him. "It was amazing. Almost the life I wanted. John was...he was alive. You two and Bobby were safe. We didn't have to hunt anymore..." She intentionally trailed off then looked back out at the window again.

Easily being able to sense that there was something she wasn't telling them, Dean shot Sam a look before the taller man quietly left the motel room to give them some privacy. Climbing to his feet, he just sighed as he came up behind her, his arms loosely drapping around her waist. "Talk to me. It's just us. What all happened? What've you been wishing for?"

"A life away from hunting." She mumbled out before she could stop herself, the details of the life he'd pulled her out of on the very tip of her tongue. Her arms lightly rested against his as she sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. "When I woke up..." Her voice unconsciously cut out as she looked up and shook her head slowly. "I was pregnant. We were married. The demon was dead, John was alive and we were happy." She rushed out quietly then turned to face him. "We were normal. We had a life all laid out in front of us. Free from demons and evil and...danger. I was going to give you a little girl."

Air seemed to quickly seep from his body as he stared at his obviously broken-up girlfriend. "That's the life I pulled you out of." He mumbled out then sighed and let his hands drop to his sides before he slowly turned to put some distance between them. He felt even guiltier now for the wish he'd been pushed into seeing come to light.

"What about you?" She blurted out before she could stop herself, her arms tightening against her chest slightly as she took an unsteady step toward him. "What happened to you?"

"My mom was alive." He announced in a neutral tone as he turned around to face her. There was no secret that was his one wish in life. Something he was no longer hoping or holding onto. "The fire never happened, Sam was still at Stanford, had just gotten engaged to Jess..."

"And you fell in love with a normal woman." She finished for him, not being able to ignore the painful feeling of her stomach dropping. "A woman that wasn't me."

"But that's the thing." The words passed his lips in an urgent rush as he moved back toward her. "She was so much like you that it was scary! She knew me inside and out, little things that I never even noticed."

"But things that I would." She realized quietly, but before either one of them could say anything, Sam suddenly reappeared, looking very sheepish. "Who called you a pervert?" Chance asked before she had a second to let the thought register.

Blinking in surprise, he just tossed his jacket at her then flopped onto one of the beds. "No one." Noticing the glare from his brother's girlfriend, he instantly wanted to cower as he started to backpedal. "Okay! Okay. Some woman walking her dog, thought I was about to break in or something so I had to duck inside."

Chance's head fell back as Dean laughed and shook his head. "Only my brother..." He mumbled, still shaking his head when he got popped in the shoulder. "Ow! Oh, he's the perv and I'm the one that gets slapped? How is that fair?"

"It's not." She announced and smiled at him sweetly as she started to get ready for bed. "Now get in this bed before I hang you by your toenails. Some of us didn't spend the night in a hospital room, lying to doctors and cops."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean jokingly grumbled, both boys laughing when a pillow hit him square in the chest. "Damn! Such a violent woman. No wonder the Djinn had to use extra rope for you." He mumbled out and fell onto the bed beside her, his stomach tightening about two seconds before her hand made contact. For all the hell and sacrifices he had to make, there was no place else that he could see himself being. The world he'd been mentally entrapped in wasn't in the cards for him. This, laying in a hotel room with Sam and Chance, was. But it was comforting to know that the woman in his dream world, had been the woman laying next to him, just...in a different body.


	35. Chapter 35

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five:**

"For the last time, you aren't getting any pie!" Chance yelled out as she slowly walked away from the Impala. They had stopped for food and, of course, Dean was yelling for pie. He'd had it in his head for days, and was probably craving it but neither Chance or Sam would give in. Dean and pie didn't exactly mesh well and she wasn't about to give him food that would make enclosed spaces hard as hell to deal with. Moving behind Sam, she languidly shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she followed him into the small, out of the way diner. She officially had no clue what she wanted to eat and that was probably a bad thing considering the men she had been spending way too much time with.

Dean nodded his head slightly as he sat out in the mangled parking lot, the radio humming quietly with some old-skool metal song. His eyes, of course, were well trained and set on Chance and Sam, easily being able to see every move they made. But when the radio started to blink and flicker in and out, his eyes were pulled away. Leaning up slightly, a chill instantly shot down his spine when he realized just what was going on. Fears were confirmed when he looked up and couldn't see his brother and girlfriend anywhere within the small diner. He moved fast, propelling himself out of the vehicle and raced inside. The scene that stretched out before him when he hit the door was enough to lurch anyone's stomach. The customer that had been sitting in front of the window was now slumped over the table with blood practically flowing from a neck wound. One glance behind the counter showed him that the cooks were dead from the same wound; as well as the serving staff. But there were still no signs of Chance or Sam anywhere.

Heading for the door on the opposite side of the restaurant, he pushed it open and called their names out. Frustration began to cloud his features when he was given no response and turned to leave. But before the door could clatter back into it's frame, something on the handle caught his attention and raised the fear level to an all-new high. Sulpher was on the door and that could only mean one thing. The Demon. Running as fast as he could, Dean stopped when he reached the back doors of the Impala and once again began to shout out the two names that were bouncing through his head at a dizzying rate. His blood was starting to run cold and the only thing he could think to do as he climbed back into the Impala, was notify Bobby. God-willing...Bobby would know what to do.

* * *

A low groan passed Chance's lips as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Opening her eyes, she quickly sat up when she didn't recognize any of the scenery surrounding her. To be honest, she didn't even remember anything past walking into the diner with Sam. Sam... Climbing to her feet, she quickly started to look around, yelling the younger Winchester's name out in twisted hopes that he had ended up in the same place she had since they had both gone into the diner.

Sam was just waking up too, laying sprawled out on a leave-covered, wooden crate when he heard his name practically bouncing off trees. Quickly getting up, he jogged over to the source of the voice, breathing a huge sigh of relief when he saw his brother's girlfriend running toward him. "Hey, you okay?" He asked, easily catching her when she accidentally crashed into him.

"As okay as I can be since someone just abducted our asses!" Chance blurted out before she could stop herself and huffed quietly as she adjusted the jacket covering her top and dirty jeans.

Sighing, he just shook his head and looked around before grabbing her arm. "Come on, let's keep moving..."

"So that the bush monsters will have a tougher time getting us?" She couldn't help but crack as she willingly started to move with him anyway. He was right, after all, they did need to keep moving. But she was beside herself with worry and wasn't really thinking clearly. She had no idea what was going on, where they were, or if Dean was even okay. That was what had her worried the most. While she had Sam to lean on, Dean was pretty much by himself.

Rolling his eyes, Sam just lightly pushed Chance to walk ahead of him a little, blinking in surprise when she yelped suddenly as they rounded a corner. Out of nowhere, Andy appeared, looking just as surprised as they did. "Hey look! Now it's a party." Chance blurted out brightly then whimpered before she turned to step off the wooden walkway they had just been standing on. Folding her arms over her chest, she just turned in the dirt road and looked at Sam, who was asking Andy if he remembered anything that happened before he had gotten abducted. Chance looked away and let her head drop back when the other man announced that he only remembered his fourth bong hit, but that they had all smelled the same thing before everything went dark. Or at least, Chance and Andy had smelled the same thing before getting taken. But before the conversation between the two men could go any further, screaming and rattling around could be heard. Chance reacted first, racing to the source of the sounds with Sam and Andy bringing up the rear.

"Help me! Get me out of here!" The woman, which had been trapped inside a padlocked shed, yelled, rattling the door in vain.

"We're here!" Sam exclaimed and instantly started to look around for something to break the padlock off the door. "We're gonna get you out, just hold on." He announced then found a large rock near the door and slammed it into the lock. It gave after the second blow, the padlock being pushed away as the door swung open to reveal Ava Wilson, who was still pressumed missing.

"Oh my God, Sam!" She wept and practically fell out of the shed, landing against Sam's chest as she started to cry a little more. Chance stepped back and glanced at Andy before her eyes returned to the youngest Winchester when he asked if she had been trapped in there all along.

"What whole time? I just woke up in there, like, half an hour ago!" Ava blurted out and Sam and Chance exchanged looks before Sam looked at Ava again. "You've been missing for five months. My brother, Chance and I...we've been looking for you."

"But it makes no sense. I'm not...oh my God! My fiance, Brady! If I've been gone that long then he must be worried sick!" She wailed, looking up at Sam in wild bewilderment. That forced Chance to look away sharply, ignoring the look that Ava was sending her. "Okay, what's going on?" She blurted out, glancing at Andy before her eyes returned to the taller man.

"Well I, uh, I'm not really sure, but I do know one thing that the four of us have in comming." Sam mumbled out, but when more sounds emitted from somewhere nearby, he quickly changed his wording. "Well, more than four, actually."

Sighing, Chance just rubbed her forehead tiredly and stayed silent as she hung in the back of the forming group, moving to see who else had been exiled into the deserted town. Two more people appeared in front of them, an African American man dressed in Army fatigues, and another woman who looked like she was about to start jumping out of her skin.

"Are there anymore of you?" Sam asked, studying the two new people, who unlike Andy and Ava, they had never met before.

"Not that we can tell." The guy dressed in fatigues announced and glanced behind him at the blonde not saying a word. But after a few beats of silence, she finally spoke up, asking the question that seemed to be burning on everyone's mind. "How did we even get here? A minute ago, I was in San Diego."

"Well," the guy announced, once again looking back at her. "if it helps? I went to sleep in Afghanistan."

"Let me guess," Chance announced suddenly, drawing the attention from everyone around her. Including Sam. "You're both twenty-three?" When they nodded, she did too and sighed. "We are all and we all have abilities."

"What?" Army guy asked but Chance ignored him, speaking before Sam could. "It started about a year ago, finding out you could do things? We," she paused and gestured at Ava and Sam, "have visions. We can see things before they happen."

Andy noticed the pause in her words and took that second to interject his own statements. "And I can put thoughts into people's heads. Like, make them do stuff."

"For instance? Swiping Dean's car from him." Chance mumbled out, shooting him an apologetic look when she saw his facial reaction. But it faded and he went on, obviously beside himself in happiness as he went on to tell them how he had been practicing on a guy in his daily life. She glanced up again when neither Jake or Lily, the new people in all of this, seemed less than thrilled about how he had been practicing.

"So you're all 'Simon, give me your wallet' and they do it?" Lily exclaimed before she could stop herself and frowned deeply. "I'd kill for something like that. I touch people and their hearts stop. I can barely leave my house. Sorry but my life isn't exactly improved."

"And you think ours is?" Chance interjected and looked up at her sharply. "You can control yours. Yeah it sucks not to touch people, but I'd rather deal with that then dreaming about the people I love dying." She shot out, glancing at everyone before she frownd and turned to walk away from the form of people. But when Jake seemed to have the same idea, she stopped and looked back when Sam announced that they all needed to stick together. Shaking her head, Chance bit her tongue when Jake announced that he wasn't doing anything that Sam said since he most likely assumed the tallest out of everyone was crazy after answering that a demon had brought them all here. Sam just shook his head and hung it slightly when the soldier disappeared around a corner. "He'll come back." She mumbled out, mostly to herself. "He'll get attacked, we'll have to save him then we can all be one happy little group!" She announced in false cheer and curled her arms even tighter against her chest. More than anything, she just wanted to get the hell out of...wherever they are and find Dean. His safety mattered more to her than her own right then.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dean stood leaning against the hood of the Impala, Bobby standing next to him. With everything that was happening, Sam and Chance going missing, there had been no demonic activity anywhere. At all. Whatsoever. Frowning in frustration, he just shook his head and looked at Bobby. "So how are we supposed to find Sam and Chance? They could be anywhere!" But before anything else could be said, Dean's phone began to ring. It was Ash and he was acting a hell of a lot more freaky than normal. Something major was going on and Ash had obviously found it. Agreeing to get to the Roadhouse as soon as possible and Dean hung up before looking at Bobby. "Looks like we're going to the Roadhouse."


	36. Chapter 36

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

**Chapter Thirty-Six:**

Chance officially felt like her head was spinning out of control. Too much was happening at once and she wasn't quite sure how to wrap her head around everything. The Demon had summoned them all here for a reason, one she had no idea of. But her headaches were getting worse by the minute and it took all she had to keep focusing clearly on what was going on around her. Jake had been attacked by a demon and he finally realized that, everything she and Sam were talking about, was true. This was big and real and they all had to band together if they wanted to get out alive.

"Clearly the only thing to do is get the hell out of dodge." Lily announced suddenly, which easily caught Chance's attention. Scratching the back of her neck, she just chewed on her lower lip a few times and surprisingly found her voice. "Bad idea. We're surrounded by woods and there's obviously a hell of a lot of demons walking around. We don't know how many there are. We were put here for a reason. If we were able to get out, we'd of been given a way already."

"You may be okay with all of this, but I'm not. I can't just stand here and let whatever happens...happen. My life might suck, but that doesn't mean I don't want to get back to it." Lily shot back, obviously not thinking about what she was saying before the words passed her lips.

"And you think we don't?" Chance announced as she advanced on the smaller blonde. "I have a life too. So does Andy and Ava and Sam! You're not the only one who's had this whole freaky ass event. Look, I'm sorry that you touched your girlfriend and she died, but you standing here...acting like you're the only person affected by this is really making me want to beat you senseless! My ex-fiancee is dead." She exclaimed, not caring who looked at her or how harsh she sounded right then. "My mother is dead, my father is dead too. Because of me. My boyfriend is out...Godknows where. I don't even know if he's alive!" She sighed in frustration, flattening a hand over her forehead before she refocused her attention onto Lily and pointed at Andy then Sam. "Their parents are dead too. All because of this demon. You think this is a joke? You think that you can just...walk out of here and resume your life? You're wrong. Your life is never going to be the same and neither is any of ours. Everyone here has sacrificed something so that makes us all in the same damn boat. None of us are ever going to have a normal life again without all this crap hanging over our heads. This damn thing wants us here, and it wants us together. So the best damn thing to do is stick together and pray like hell that we make it out alive. I'm sorry, but this is your life right now. Deal with it."

Sam couldn't help but stare at Chance as she rattled through her outburst, honestly wondering how long she had been holding that in. He still didn't know what she had gone through when the Djinn had attacked her and Dean but judging by everything she had just said? It was serious and probably damn hard to walk away from. Taking a few, short steps away from the group of people, he came up behind Chance and lightly touched her shoulder.

Whirling around, she relaxed instantly when she saw Sam and gave him an exasperated look. "I'm sorry, I'm just...really freaking out right now. I mean, how badly does it suck that I'm more worried about you and Dean than I am myself?"

Frowning, Sam just shook his head slightly and pulled her into a tight hug. Lightly messing with her hair, he stepped aside when she backed off and rubbed her arm. "We're gonna get out of this, Chance and we'll find Dean. He's fine, we'd be able to feel it if he wasn't."

"I know." She nodded slightly and swiped a hand over the back of her eyes. "I just...I can't stand the thought of losing another person I love. Not to all of this." Sighing quietly, she just looked away for a second before gesturing at the others standing behind him. "Let's just...focus on them. There's gotta be a way out of here, we just have to find it."

Nodding, he just lightly squeezed her shoulder then turned around to face everyone else. "Okay, we should probably start finding some sort of weapons. Anything made of iron, silver, salt..."

"Wait, salt?" Jake blurted out, causing everyone else to look at Sam in utter bewilderment. "That's a weapon?"

"It's a brave new world." Sam announced tiredly then motioned for everyone to follow him. But as they began to walk, no one noticed Lily slip off by herself. Determined to get out on her own, she disappeared into the woods.

* * *

"What the hell?" Dean mumbled lowly as he slowly climbed out of the Impala. Bobby was mere minutes behind him, his eyes also wide at the scene laid out in front of them. In their hurry to get to the Roadhouse, things had gone horribly wrong. The building was now practically burned to the ground and Dean honestly couldn't see how anyone who had been inside, was able to survive the fire. Whatever it was that they were getting ready for, Ash had gotten too close. Not resisting when he started to walk toward the burned building, his eyes began to scower the wreckage for any type of survivor.

"You see Ellen?" Bobby called out, following the same path that Dean was.

"No, you see Ash?" He asked back, but when he found an arm near his foot, he knelt down then frowned when he noticed the watch that was clasped around the charred forearm. "Aw, damnit Ash."

* * *

Chance just stared down at the rusted metal poker in her hands. It had been broken off just an inch above the handle and had definitely seen better days. Hearing noise to her left, her thoughts snapped when she noticed Ava start to sway slightly on her feet. "You okay?" She asked before Sam could, who came up behind her when he noticed her movement as well.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy." She mumbled and winced as she reached up to rub her temples.

"You sure it's not..." Sam finally spoke up, glancing from Ava, to Chance then back.

"Some kinda freaky vision thing?" She blurted out then slowly turned around to face him. "No, more like a 'starving, want food' kinda thing." She nodded once then sighed as she turned back around to continue searching for some sort of weapon. Sam just fell silent again as he watched her walk away from him, not letting her out of his sight since he didn't fully believe that she was just suffering from hunger pains. His focus, however, was shifted when they suddenly heard movement outside. Sam was the first one at the door, followed by Chance, then Andy and Ava. They all seemed to move at the exact same time, Jake bringing up the rear as they headed back out onto the dirt road. Almost as soon as they saw the scene in front of them, Chance looked away as Ava started to freak out.

"That's not chosen!" She wailed, looking at Sam as if he knew exactly what had happened. Lily hung from the delapidated water tower in front of them, a noose holding her lifeless body in front of the wooden structure. "How can we be chosen for something if she just ended up dying?! We gotta get out of here." Ava continued on, which caused Chance to start shaking her head quickly.

"That's why she was killed. She was trying to escape." She replied in a colorless voice, her eyes finally focusing on the blonde hanging in front of them. She had honestly felt for Lily and the way her life had been turned upside down. To be honest, she couldn't imagine living with the kind of power that Lily had been given. A power that caused more harm than good. Shaking her head noticably when her thoughts began to shift to Dean, she just looked up when Jake announced that he would cut her down while everyone else continued to search for weapons. "I'll go with you." She mumbled out, handing the poker over to Sam before she started to follow Jake over to the tower. She couldn't stand just sitting around, doing nothing while they waited for the next attack. She honestly hated the feelings that were washing over her, having the ability to force her to her knees if she let it. That was the one thing she refused to do. Chance had been brought to her knees quite a few times in the span of twenty-three years, but now was one time when that wouldn't happen. She couldn't let it.

* * *

Dean felt rooted in place as he stared at the sight where the Roadhouse had once stood. There had been no survivors that they could think of and there was also no sign of Ellen. Anywhere. Ash had obviously known something, that something was seeking them all out. But the young man had been adamant about not telling Dean what it was over the phone. So now he and Bobby had no way of knowing what had caused the wreckage in front of them. There was also no telling what possibly lay ahead. If his brother and girlfriend were okay...

"We're going to find them." Bobby announced with quiet determination. He could tell what was going through the young man's mind just by the look on his face. "Chance and Sam are still alive, there's no point in killing them right now."

Dean just found himself nodding as he turned on his heel and started around the front of the Impala. Stopping, he just sighed and rested his hands on the hood of the black vehicle. The car that Chance had surprised him with by finishing the repairs. He could still remember that day, the day she had come walking back into his life. He knew that she had a tie into what they were fighting against, but in that moment, he couldn't of even considered the extent of things. He couldn't have pictured standing there now, wondering if she was alive or not. Everything he had done to try and keep her and his brother safe seemed to all be in vain in that moment. They weren't with him, he had no clue what was going on where they were and that made him feel a kind of helpless that he had never, in his life, felt before. But before the conversation that Bobby was trying to start up could get any further, he was practically brought to his knees by a searing pain invading his mental cavity.

Bobby was at his side in an instant, watching as the eldest Winchester collapsed against the hood of the Impala, holding his head in his hands. "Dean! What is it? What's going on?"

Dean couldn't say anything. Images were filling his mind in a confusing, and dizzying rate. Trying to piece them all together, he slowly started to stand as he stared blankly ahead of him.

"What was that?" He asked again, watching as Dean regained his footing and continued to rub his head. "I don't know, headaches?" A frown set onto his features even deeper when Bobby asked if he got headaches like that a lot. Headaches that Sam experienced while having visions.

"It's probably just stress. Sam gets the visions, not me Bobby." But before he could go on any further to convince the older man, the pain began to fill his senses all over again. The image he had seen before, a old bell filled his mind, but now Sam and Chance were inside the image as well. Looking very much alive and relatively unharmed. Regaining his barings as it started to fade from his mind, he quickly looked up at Bobby. "I saw them. I saw Chance and Sam...standing beside some bell."

Confusion and worry spread across Bobby's face like wildfire, demanding that he be told what the bell looked like exactly; if there were any markings on it. When Dean told him what he had seen, the confusion started to lift from the older man's features. "I know where they are. Come on, we gotta hurry."


	37. Chapter 37

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven:**

It honestly felt like ice was running through Chance's veins as she sat next to Sam. Things had seemingly calmed down when night fell, Jake standing guard while she and Sam fought off sleep. While she had been able to win, the younger Winchester wasn't so lucky. Being visited by the demon, he had gained more knowledge in five minutes than they had in the entire twenty-two years of hunting. That was what freaked Chance out the most when he told her a little of the dream, the demon's ability to creep into their sleeping minds. But she knew there was something that Sam was keeping from her. Some inner secret that he wasn't giving her access to.

Her eyes involuntary closed for just a second, long enough for her body to relax into the hard, wooden chair she had practically fallen into. Realizing what was going on, she forced her eyes to snap open and sat up slightly. But when she saw someone other than Sam sitting next to her, she shot to her feet and whirled around to face the human that the demon had possessed.

"Well hello to you too, Chance." It drawled out, bright yellow eyes gleaming in the dim light as it grinned up at her. "How's the new scenery treating ya?"

Looking around, she noticed that Sam was now standing in front of the door while Jake occupied a chair near him. "Sam!" She called out, frowning even more when he didn't turn around to face her. "I'm asleep, aren't I?" She realized slowly, her head turning back around to face the thing that had killed her mother and fiance.

"That you are!" It nodded once and hopped up, excitement and happiness dripping from each and every movement he made. "I always knew you'd be a smart one. Though I do have to tell you, I was surprised by how you turned out."

"Go to hell." She hissed, backing up when it started to advance on her slowly. "You tore my life apart, you don't get to be surprised by how I was raised."

"Oh, but I do." It grinned malicously, demonic eyes shining even brighter before he gestured at the door behind her. "Why don't we go outside and talk about things?"

"Why? So you can get me away from the others and kill me? No thanks, dude." Chance huffed, her entire body tense and trained on the demon's next possible move.

Bright yellow eyes rolled in their host's sockets before he reached out and began to push her through the door, then out the house onto the dirt road. "There's no point in killing you right now so just cool it."

"Right, cause then that means all your hard work would be for nothing." She blurted out in dry, emotionless humor as she turned back around to face him. "Why did you do it?" She shot out before she could stop herself, a million and one questions filling her mind now that he was actually standing in front of her. "Why my mother, Eric, John, Mary...countless others?"

"There's no fun in revealing the end before it begins." Yet another smile twisted on the demon's face as it stared intently at Chance. "But to be honest, I had to keep you focused. I had to push you back into the game. That's why your little pretty boy fiance died. I couldn't let you two get married, settle down and force you out of the game. Sam knows why his mother died, but John? Well, John gave himself up."

"What?" Chance blurted out before she could stop herself. It was no secret that demons lied, but there were times when she honestly wasn't sure if he was lying or not right then about John Winchester. "What do you mean, he gave himself up? He would never..."

"But you don't know that. See, you hadn't come back into the game yet when that happened. The nasty little accident that hurt your poor boyfriend? Dean was two seconds away from death but I stopped it. I put him back into the game so he could keep the illusion of being able to save his family. By the way? Wasn't banking on you two crazy kids hooking up."

"Oh get bent." She grimaced and turned away as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Looking around at the dark and erie surroundings, her shoulders sagged slightly before she slowly turned around to face the demon again. "Why did you kill my mother? I didn't even know her. Why did she have to die?"

"Because she could have ruined everything before it even began! Same with Sammy's pretty little mother. They both walked in at the wrong time. In your case, she almost made it out alive. Too bad I look nothing like your pathetic little daddy. I didn't even have to do anything to him!"

"Shut up!" Chance yelled, her voice bouncing off the silenced air. "Just tell me why. Why did you do this to me? What's to gain by taking almost everything away from me?"

"Because you're special."

"Yeah, I get that." She snapped sarcastically and curled her arms up across her chest. "You could have chosen anyone. Could've picked anyone! Why target my family?"

"Well, look at it this way." The demon drawled out melodically, flicking his fingers in her face as he started to walk around her. "If I hadn't targetted you, you never would have met the Winchester boys. Never would've fallen for that knuckle head, Dean. You seemed like a good fit into my master plan. You did exactly what I hoped you would do. You pushed yourself into this world and didn't get out."

"I never had a chance of getting out." She seethed, not bothering to move even an inch when he started to circle around her. "You made sure of that."

"That I did." It finally stopped moving and settled in front of her, a sickening grin on it's features. "You have always understood that this is where you belong. Just like Sammy's dear brother. You accepted it, even though you did try to fight for a normal life. But see, you also seem to realize that you can't have that either! You'll never be able to have that, Chance."

"You're a sick bastard." She mumbled heatedly, her arms dropping from her sides as she stared at the demon in utter disgust. "How did you pull me in, hmm? Don't tell me you did some damn ritual over my crib then pushed my mom up onto the ceiling. Cause really? Way too damn predictable. Even for a demon."

The demon's face contorted again, this time into a slightly more wicked grin as he clapped lightly. "Little girl's done her homework! Color me impressed! Yes, a ritual was done. Your lovely little mama walked in on the end of it. That's my blood in your veins. Every time you bleed? That's my blood you're seeing."

Nausea instantly started to consume Chance as she stared at the ground underneath her feet, almost sure that it was going to swallow her. She had only been joking, trying to play the game as twisted and sick as it was right then. But to actually be right...? "So what now?" She asked, her voice void of any emotion. "You brought us here in hopes that you'll band us all together so we can do your bidding for you?"

"And the little girl slips in the ratings!" He rushed out, starting to move again as he shook his head slowly. "I brought you all here to see who's the best of the best. The biggest and brightest of your generation! You see, Chance, I only need one of you to survive this. One that will lead my army."

Nausea was growing stronger by the second and she couldn't help but stare at the demon in distain. "I'm not killing anyone." She breathed quietly. "No one else is going to die. Just because you have some sick little game you're playing..."

"Oh but see, Chance." It sighed and shook its head slowly before turning to face her again. "If you don't kill them, they're going to kill you. And I really don't think you'll just stand around and let it happen. Even dear Sammy. He'll turn on you too."

"Never gonna happen." Cance shot out, shaking her head quickly. She refused to believe that Sam would turn on her, try to kill her all in hopes of making it out of this. "Sam can't hurt me anymore than I can hurt him. It won't happen."

"We'll see." It sneered, waving his hands slightly as he bowed a little. "We'll see."

But before Chance could say anything, the scenery surrounding her changed rapidly. Seated back in the chair she had fallen asleep in, she looked around for a second and rubbed her face slowly with both hands. Sam noticed that she had waken up and sat up a little more in his seat. "You okay?"

"No." She replied shortly and got up. "I need some air." Taking a step forward, she stopped when she heard movement behind her and realized that Sam was getting up to follow her. "Don't." She whispered and slowly looked over her shoulder at him. "Don't follow me, okay? Stay in here and keep an eye on everyone."

Opening his mouth to say something, he was just rebuffed when Chance carefully left the run-down building. Whatever was going through her mind...it wasn't good. That much was evident by the way she looked when she walked out of the rundown shack.

Sighing quietly once she got outside, Chance couldn't help but shiver slightly when the wind hit her. But that wasn't what she was feeling. The dream she'd woken up from was still fresh on her mind and she couldn't help but wonder if Dean would find them in time. Sam had told her about the idea Andy had had. Since Andy's abilities had been honed, he had the ability to put thoughts into other people's minds. But there was one small snag. He could only imprint images into people that were around him. But he had tried it anyway, filling Dean's mind with images of where they were since phones were less than useless in their surroundings. The thing that worried her the most was the fact that there was no way of knowing if Dean had even made sense of the visions. Looking around for a few more minutes, she quickly turned on her heel when she heard new sounds emitting from inside. Racing inside, her stomach lurched when she saw Sam standing in front of Ava, Andy lifeless on on the floor behind him. "What the hell happened?!"

"I just found him like that!" She wailed, turning watery eyes onto Chance in hopes that she would get some sort of sympathy from the other woman involved in all of this. When Sam asked what happened to him, she had no response. "I...I don't know. I went outside to get some water from the well and when I came back..."

For some odd reason, Chance didn't believe that for a second. Moving slowly toward the window, her stomach flipped again when she noticed a space in the line of salt they had put there earlier in the day. "The salt line's broken." She called out, turning to look at Sam before her eyes flickered onto Ava. "That wasn't broken earlier. Who did it?"

"I don't know." She shot out again, her eyes still filled with tears as she fully turned around to face Chance. "Maybe Andy..."

"He knew better." Sam replied before Chance had the opportunity. But Ava didn't turn back around to face him, her eyes were too trained on Chance and it was making her feel more uncomfortable than she liked. "And like Chance said, that line wasn't broken before."

"What? You don't think..." Ava trailed off as her eyes finally flickered from Chance to Sam.

"You're the only one with five months missing from your life. No memory, no way you could have been knocked out that long. And that headache you got...it was right before Lily died."

"I didn't do anything!" She shot out in protest, her eyes welling up yet again before she sighed and let her shoulders sag. "So had you going there for a while." She reached up and lightly wiped tears away before looking at Chance, who made the first sound. "I've been here for a long time, and not alone either. People just keep...showing up. Children like us in batches of three or four. It was me or them, so I chose them."

"So this whole time," Chance muttered, her eyes fixed heatedly on Ava. "You've been here. Killing one person after another. For what? Survival? You think that if you kill enough people that you'll get outta here? Sorry but I doubt that's the way it works."

Ava just shrugged as she slowly began to advance on Chance, who felt rooted in place. Moving an arm behind her, she carefully moved her finger in the salt, trying to reconnect the ring against the window behind her. "Like I said, it's me or them. I'm the undefeated Heavyweight Champion." She smiled brightly then shrugged as she stopped. "After a while, it was easy. Even kinda fun. It's amazing what you can do when you just open yourself up." She laughed, spreading her arms out slightly before they dropped back to her sides. "The learning curve is so fast. It's amazing, when that switch flips in your head. And to think, it just started out as dreams! Do you realize what I can do now?" She asked, directing her question at both of them. But since she was still facing Chance, it was her that spoke. She had been controlling the demon that tried to attacked Jake earlier in the day.

Turning her head to look back at the window when Ava's hands moved to her temples, she instantly frowned when she noticed that the salt ring was still broken. Moving away from the window as fast as she could, she swore loudly and fell, skin underneath her jeaned leg splitting open when she hit the floor. Sam was quick to her side, noticing the black mist sliding underneath the windowseal, aiming in their direction. Moving quickly, Chance ignored the pain in her left leg and kicked her other foot up. Ava, who hadn't noticed her movements, was knocked off balance and fell to the floor. Collapsing back to the floor in pain, Chance looked up just in time to see a burst of metal flying over her. The Archiri was already in the room and advancing on her. But as soon as the poker slid through it, the figure disappeared and Sam climbed to his feet as Ava moved to get back up. "No!" She screamed and began to concentrate again. But before the demon could be called back into the room, Jake appeared behind her, her neck snapping effortlessly before she crumpled to the floor in a heap. Almost as soon as she disappeared from Chance's limited sight, the Archiri that had begun to form again disappeared. Wincing as she sat up, she looked up and shook her head when Sam tried to help her up. "Just get outta here." She seethed, trying her best to ignore the feeling swelling in the pit of her stomach. It could only be one. Only one of them was going to survive this and if it came down between her and Sam, she'd sacrifice herself in a heartbeat. In her way of thinking, Dean could survive losing her. But losing his brother? His remaining family? She wasn't so sure he could survive that. Sliding across the floor, she winced again and noticed blood starting to pool around her motionless ankle, her jean leg dark with the liquid that was steadily seeping out between the skin that had split open when she fell.

Sam refused to even entertain the idea of leaving her without her. Dean needed her just as much as he needed him. No way was he leaving her here. It wasn't going to happen. But when Jake appeared beside him and started to encourage it, he shook his head. "No! We're all getting out of here. I'm not leaving you behind, Chance. Don't ask me to do that."

"Sammy..." She mumbled and smiled weakly as more blood began to cover the dirty floor underneath her. "Go find Dean, okay? Go end this thing. I promise, I'll be right here when you get back."

Shaking his head, he ignored Jake and moved to help her up again. "No you won't. You're losing too much blood, we gotta get you out of here."

"Sam!" Chance yelled and struggled against him, only to fall back onto the floor yet again. Yelping in pain when her leg was jostled, she kept her head bent as she blinked back tears. Finally looking at him, she let a slightly uneven breath out then cleared her throat. "I'm not leaving. It's up to you two now, okay? I can't walk anyway, I'll just slow you down."

"She's right man, we gotta go." Jake was quick to jump back to her defense, causing her eyes to move from Sam to him. She could finally acknowledge what was causing the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Jake'd had the same dream that she did, and she knew for a fact that Sam'd had it. They all knew that only one person could walk away from this, but Sam seemed to be fighting it. She wasn't so sure about Jake. Managing to get up, she put most of her weight on her right leg, her left one hanging limply underneath her. Smiling sadly at Sam, she completely ignored Jake as she threw her arms around his neck. "You know I love you, Sammy." She whispered, not wanting Jake to have the slightest chance to hear what she was saying. "Be careful, and watch out for Dean, okay?" She lightly rubbed his back as his arms started to wind around her considerablly smaller frame. It was almost as if his arms couldn't decide between holding her up right, or giving in to that final, goodbye hug. "Go kill this son-of-a-bitch." Her voice grew weaker as tears became even harder for her to push back. Leaning away from Sam, she pushed hair off her face and smiled bravely up at him before she shoved him as hard as she could toward the door. The action sent her off-balance and into the chair she had woken up in. Biting her lip so hard that she was drawing blood, she refused to acknowledge the pain surging through her ankle even more. Luckily, pushing Sam away seemed to do the trick even though it hurt like hell in the process. Sighing quietly as she turned in the chair, she just stared up at the ceiling as more blood drained from her leg. The wound wasn't fatal by any means, but she knew that with her decision to stay behind, there was no way to counteract all the blood she was losing. While part of her felt like this was taking the easy way out of things, letting an actual accident put an end to things, there was another voice in her mind agreeing with the decision she had made. It was only a matter of following through. Something she was determined to do, even if it felt like the worst thing in the world.


	38. Chapter 38

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight:**

Every single muscle in Sam's body was yelling for him to stop. He desperately wanted to go back, to pick Chance up and not give her the option of staying behind to die. That was just unacceptable to him and knew that if it were Dean in his place, his older brother would adamantly agree. They really were too much alike, Dean and Chance. They both had a knack for sacrificing themselves, no matter what long-term damage was inflicted on those that they could possibly leave behind. For the first time since all of this had started, he felt utterly helpless and at a loss of what to do. Everything had been laid out so clearly before. He had his brother and Chance to depend on, to go through this with him. Together, they plotted everything out and usually came out on top. Something that Sam wasn't so sure would happen now. Once his feet hit the dirt road in front of the building Chance had been left in, his footsteps halted as he turned to see if Jake was following him. "I think we can get out of here now." He replied, his voice constricting slightly as he forced himself to not think about his brother's girlfriend.

"But what about the Archiri?" Jake asked, his chest heaving from the effort it had taken to get Sam out of the rickety house they had holed up in.

"It won't come back. Ava was controlling it, that's how it attacked us." When Jake nodded, Sam started to move again. But when he realized that the other man wasn't following him, he stopped and turned back to face him. "Jake? What're you doing? Come on, we gotta get out of here. You said it yourself."

"We both can't leave. The demon won't let us. There...it told me that only one of us can survive."

The realization that Jake'd had the same dream that he did hit like a ton of bricks. It also explained the look he had seen on Chance's face when she thought he wasn't looking. "What? No, no. Don't listen to it."

"Oh come on!" He yelled and spread his arms out beside him. "Chance knew it! Why else would she have stayed behind. She just sliced her leg open, she could survive that. But she knew. She knew that only one of us is getting out of here alive."

"That's what the demon wants us to believe! It's not true."

"What's the good in both of us dying?" Jake questioned before he could stop himself. "He's not letting us go. There can only be one, remember? If we don't play along, he'll kill us both. What's that gonna do? Nothing. I can get out of here. I can get close to the demon and kill the bastard."

"We can do it together." Sam rushed on, putting all of his energy into convincing the man standing in front of him. The man that had been given the ability of paranormal strength. In logical terms, they were no match for each other and in a round about sort of way, they had both gone through the same training.

"How do I know you won't turn on me?" When Sam announced that he wouldn't, Jake didn't look convinced as he shook his head. "I don't know that for sure."

"Why else would I have left Chance in there?! She's my best friend, my brother's girlfriend! If I wanted to kill anyone, if I bought into this 'there can only be one' stuff? I would have made sure she can't get out of there alive." He practically breathed as he forced the fear back from his voice. Pulling the knife he had found within one of the ruined houses, he just held it up to catch the light then laid it into the dirt. "I'm unarmed now, okay? No way can I turn on you without a weapon. Don't play into his plan, all right?" When Jake saw the knife hit the dirt, he found himself nodding as he let the iron rod in his hand fall to the dusty ground as well. But the relief surging through Sam's frame at that action was shortlived. Stalking up to him, Jake landed a punch square in his jaw, sending him back some three hundred feet. Sam's back hit the ground with a sickening thud, Jake advancing on him before he could get back to his feet. Once the other man was close enough, Sam's foot swept out to deliver three swift kicks that managed to knock the solider to the Earth.

Sam was only on his feet for a split second when yet another punch was thrown, this time connecting and shattering his collarbone. Fighting through the searing pain and having the wind knocked out of him, he managed to gain momentum again, sending Jake spiraling backward. Grabbing the iron rod that Jake had dropped only moments before, he stood over the guy, arm raised. But something was stopping him. He wasn't a killer. He didn't fit into the demon's plans, simply because he didn't have the heart to deliver that final blow. Tossing the weapon aside once he was sure that Jake was unconscious, he backed away slowly. Drawing painful breaths of air into his lungs, Sam turned on his heel quickly when Dean's voice suddenly sounded through the air, calling both his and Chance's names.

"Dean!" He called out, gesturing back toward the house Chance was still in as he walked toward his brother, completely turning his back on Jake. "She's inside..." He had just barely gotten the words out when the older Winchester, with Bobby at his side, yelled for him to look out. Jake had regained consciousness and picked up the knife that Sam had discarded. The warning came too late as Jake advanced on the younger Winchester, easily slamming the knife into Sam's back with no hesitation. The knife slipped from the solider's grip as Sam fell to his knees. Realizing what he had just done, fear gripped him as he turned and took off running into the abandoned town. Bobby was hot on his heels, anger coursing through him at an alarming rate. Knowing that Dean had Sam, he continued to search with no avail. Finally giving up, the older man swore loudly and started the trek back to where he had left Sam and Dean.

"No! No. Sam. Whoa, Sam. Sam. Sam, hey. Hey, come here. Let me look at you," Dean rushed out as he held his brother upright on his knees. One hand shot around to his back, fingers easily sliding into the blood that was rushing from the wound in his back. Swallowing thickly, he just tried to play it off, leaning back enough to look at his little brother. "Hey, look. Look at me. It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, alright? Sammy?" Fear clutched him from every angle when no sounds passed the younger man's lips. "Sam! Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new, huh? I'm gonna take care of you. I'll take care of you. I got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother. Sam? Sam. Sam! Sammy! No. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, God. Oh, God. Sam!" Fear turned to anguish when he finally realized that no other sounds would be passing his brother's lips. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes as he pulled Sam's body close, continuing to yell over and over that this couldn't be happening. He couldn't be losing Sam. His eyes flickered up when he saw movement in front of him. Even more tears filled his eyes when he was able to focus enough on the figure standing in front of him.

Bobby looked beside himself with grief. Following a hunch that had started when he couldn't keep up with Jake, his heart immediately jumped to his throat when he found Chance in the nearest house. The house that Sam had been pointing to just minutes before the knife had been slammed into his back. While Sam and Jake had fought outside, she had given up inside, fatigue intermingling with pain as she slipped into unconsciousness. The only thing Bobby thought to do was pick her up, seeing no other injury than the one on her leg. Something that could be fixed if they could just get enough blood back into her system. The thing that hurt the worst was the scene that Bobby had walked up on. Sam's wound was much more grave than Chance's and that tore at his heart just as much as his daughter's lifeless body in his arms.

A simple word filled Dean's throat yet again as he carefully lowered his brother's body to the ground and got up to look at Chance. Her face was considerably pale and it sent a jolt of fear through his frame. Running his hand over her forehead, it slid into her hair as he forced himself not to lose it. There was something that had to be done. Something. Anything! Bobby's voice cut through the silence like ice as he quietly determined that Dean should carry Chance, while he took care of Sam. They had to get out and fast.

* * *

Dean didn't say a word as he sat in a wooden chair, his eyes fixed intently in front of him. Sam's body had been laid out on a cot toward the back of a house they had managed to find and hole up in. Bobby, desperate to save Chance's life, had gone out in search of food and someone to help patch up her leg and restore blood into her system. His eyes flickered from his brother to the young woman laying on the bed across the room from him. Her chest was still rising and falling, but the movement was growing increasingly more difficult to see. Her face was ashen now, her lips turning a light shade of blue as blood began to stop circulating. Flinching slightly when he heard the front door open then close, he finally looked away from Chance and Sam's bodies when Bobby came back into view. A man that Dean vaguely remembered stood behind him, clutching a box that looked heavier than the man. "Who's this?" He mumbled out, his voice thick yet emotionless as he stood up.

Bobby set the food he had bought down on the table then showed the man into the space where Chance was laying. "He's here to help Chance."

While he was damn relieved that Chance could be fixed, there was no way the euphoria was able to fight up to the surface. His brother was still dead. There was no fixing that. Nodding, he just watched the man start clean up her wound, a gauze being wrapped tightly around her calf. "It wasn't a break." The man spoke clearly, his voice just as grave as everyone else's in the room. "She fell on something wooden. When she hit the ground, I can only assume that it broke off and lodged into her leg." When both men nodded, the elderly gentleman nodded then returned to his work. A needle that connected to a tube then a bag was slid into her forearm once her jacket was taken off, neither Dean or Bobby being able to look as the red liquid slid into her pale arm.

Coming up behind Dean, Bobby carefully slid a hand onto his shoulder. "You need to eat, Dean."

"I'm not hungry," He mumbled but turned toward the table anyway. Dropping into the chair, he swiped a hand over his face and took a drink from the bottle of whiskey sitting in front of him. He could practically hear Chance's voice in his mind right then, yelling at him to eat. Bobby paused in his efforts long enough to let the doctor he had been able to pay into silence, called him over. Explaining that the bag needed to be kept up in the air, it would be enough to restore Chance's energy. Thanking the man, Bobby just focused on his daughter as the man left, Dean paying him no mind. He hadn't expected the doctor to take a look at Sam since it was obvious that there was no bringing his brother back. But it didn't make his surroundings any less painful. Feeling the sudden urge to move, he rose from the chair but looked over when Bobby cleared his throat. "Dean...I hate to bring this up. You know I do but, don't you think it's time we...bury Sam?" When Dean gave his clear, emotionless refusal, Bobby sighed and shook his head. "We could always..."

"What?" Dean barked and turned to face him again. "Torch his corpse? We're not doing anything. Not yet. Just...cut me some slack, okay?"

"Dean I know how hard this must be for you, really." Bobby rushed on only to be silenced when Dean's anger filled the room through his voice. "No you don't Bobby, you have no idea! Chance'll survive this, Sam won't. Sam's gone." He screamed, hating all of the emotions assaulting his frame. None of which that he could control. He honestly didn't know whether or not to be happy that Chance would regain consciouness once blood started to pump through her body again. But the same wouldn't be able to be said for Sam. Landing heavily in the chair he had found himself in when Bobby came in with the doctor, he just rubbed his face again and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. His baby brother, the little boy that he had been raised to protect was now gone. One wrong move, looking away at the wrong time had cost him everything. He didn't move, didn't even flinch when Bobby announced a while later that he needed to go. Work needed to be done and he was hoping that having Chance there, regaining her health, would do him some good. He trusted the young man with his daughter's life. Dean didn't bother to say a word as Bobby left the house after being angrily turned. His help was needed. Something big was still coming but Dean just couldn't bring himself to care. Not when his brother was dead and the love of his life was still barely hanging on. "I remember when we were kids." He started out, his voice low as he looked at Sam before his gaze shifted onto Chance. The bag of blood that the elderly man brought for Chance had been tacked up onto the wall over her head, dark red liquid still steadily flowing into her arm.

"I always tried to look out for you two. That was my job. The only job I ever had was to make sure that you two were safe." Sighing, he just shook his head slowly and looked back at Sam. "You always asked why we didn't have a mom. Why did we always move around and why couldn't Chance stay with us all the time? I never really understood things myself so I had no idea of what to say. So I just focused on keeping an eye on you two, but I screwed up." He frowned more and shook his head, his eyes never leaving his brother's body. "What am I supposed to do now, huh?" He mumbled out before he could stop himself, his hand moving up to swipe over his face before anger started to surge through him again. "What am I supposed to do?" The words exploded from his voice as he vaulted out of the chair. Anger was dictating every single movment his body made. He had to figure out a way to bring his brother back. He just had to. Dean refused to believe that his little brother's life was over.


	39. Chapter 39

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine:**

Chance moaned weakly in pain as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Her entire body felt like lead, pain radiating everywhere, especially through her left leg. Sitting up slowly, the room began to spin around her and she laid back down. But as she moved to rest back against the dirty mattress underneath her, she looked over and gasped when she saw Sam. He had his back to a rusty, stained mirror, shirt pulled up as much as possible. But when he felt eyes on her, he slowly turned around and noticed Chance trying to sit up in a nearby bed.

"Chance?" He mumbled out, trying his best to get his mind to focus on what was going on. But before she could say anything, sound instantly reverberated through the house and Dean appeared. Relief surged through his system, showing clearly on his face when he saw not only Sam, but Chance awake as well. "Sammy?" He mumbled out, first thought on his brother and if he really was okay. Sam just nodded slowly, looking over his brother's shoulder in confusion at Chance before he was pulled into a tight hug.

"You're hurting me." He mumbled and stepped away from Dean, pushing his shirt back down against his back as the older man went to check on Chance. "You okay?" He asked quietly, laying a hand on her cheek. She nodded and swallowed thickly as she tried to sat up again, her hand unconsciously pushing on his thigh in a sense of support. When she finally got situated, her heart started to break when she saw the look on his face. Something had obviously just happened, something was wrong and he was doing everything he could to keep it hidden. But before she could say anything, his lips were on hers in an almost desperate kiss. Kissing him back quickly, her fingers smoothed over his cheek before he pulled away slowly. "What happened?" She asked carefully, wincing when she tried to move her leg. The damage to the muscles in her leg wasn't really serious, the thing that had put her in danger was the length of skin that had split open when a piece of wood was shoven into her leg as she fell. Pieces broke off but the man Bobby had found was able to clean up the wound, reconnect the skin with stitches before wrapping gauze around her leg to keep it clean.

Dean stood up, his arms out in front of him slightly as she started to get up. He honestly didn't know what exactly had happened with Chance, but the events leading to Sam's injury were still very fresh on his mind. Staying silent as Sam explained not wanting to leave her behind after she fell, she quickly waved at him to stop talking. It still hurt her to remember Sam not wanting to leave her behind and the look on Dean's face proved that he hated hearing about it too.

"So then what happened to me? The last thing I remember is being stabbed." Sam confessed quietly, pulling in enough of Dean's attention that he focused on him but was still able to keep Chance standing upright. Once she was settled into a nearby chair, Dean started in on the explaination of what exactly happened to him. The truth was being bent, yeah, but he really didn't want his little brother to know that he had died and drastic measures had been taken in order to bring him back. Not only would he have to face Sam's anger, but Chance's as well.

Sam looked a little blown away as he took a seat at the table as well, looking at the food that Bobby had brought in. "I don't get something." He sighed and looked at Chance then over at Dean. "If there was supposed to be only one person walk out alive, how did Chance and I escape?"

Dean shifted slightly in his seat as he sighed and picked at the food on his plate. "Well, Bobby found Chance. He brought her out of the house once that guy...Jake?" When Sam nodded, he went on, "Jake stabbed you, figured that when you fell, he'd done his job and took off."

"Did you catch him?" Chance found herself asking, hugging her arms to her chest so that neither man would see her shaking. There was a limited amount of energy locked within her frame, but not enough to push her into wanting to do anything other than sitting there and listening as the boys spoke.

Shaking his head, Dean sighed as he leaned back in his chair and stretch an arm out onto the back of Chance's chair. He could tell that his girlfriend was still struggling and he hated that, but before he could talk to her about it, Sam's voice broke through. "We gotta find him, Dean. The demon's got something big planned and it centers around Jake. I know it does."

"We'll find him, okay? But right now, I'm more concerned about getting you two right now, than him. Sam, you both almost died back there. We need to just take some time out so you can rest."

"We don't have the time to rest." Chance answered before Sam had the opportunity. Slowly rising from the chair, she swore under her breath when she stumbled and almost fell. Dean was there to catch her, holding her back up against his body as he shook his head. "We're not going anywhere, all right? Chance can barely move, Sam you need to relax a while too."

"Chance's right, Dean. Where's Bobby? Maybe he knows something."

"He's checking on things, yeah." He replied, easily noticing the look on Chance's face when her legal father's name was mentioned.

"I wanna see him." She blurted out before she could really stop herself. She had no way of knowing when the last time Bobby had seen her. Turning carefully, she winced when pressure was pushed through her damaged leg. But she worked through it, moving away from Dean as she started to gather her things. Sighing, he just came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he helped her get her jacket back on without falling. No matter what was going on, or what had happened, he couldn't deny his girlfriend and brother anything. Nodding, he sighed and waved them toward the door. "All right, get your asses in the car."

* * *

Chance didn't say anything as she sat on Bobby's couch. They had only been there a few minutes and she was already battling a nagging feeling that she couldn't place. Almost as soon as an opportunity presented itself, Dean and Bobby went outside. Deciding that she wasn't going to wait around, she carefully climbed off the couch and limped outside, trying to be as quiet as possible as she came up behind Dean, not caring that she caught Bobby's eyesight. Something was going on and she wanted to know what it was.

"You stupid ass!" Bobby was beside himself with so much anger that he didn't even notice Chance limping toward them. "You made a deal, didn't you? For Sam." Her heart officially lodged up in her throat as she moved to stand between the two men, Dean focused so much on Bobby and his anger that he still hadn't noticed Chance. "How long did they give you?"

"A year." Dean answered quietly, so softly that Chance had barely heard him. "What?!" She blurted out, her eyes dark with anger. "Sam died and you made a deal?" When Dean didn't say anything, anger started to surge through her even more as she grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. The action threw her off kilter slightly, Bobby reaching out to catch her. But she pushed him away, all of her attention focused on Dean. "You only have a year until you die, don't you?"

"Yeah." He finally answered, his head dipping slightly. Sighing, he looked up at her again and instantly wanted to step away from her when he saw the look on her face.

Shaking her head, she finally let go of his arm. Nausea was starting to grip her as she continued to stare at her boyfriend, who now only had a year left to live. "You ass." She seethed, not being able to resist the urge as she slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Bobby jumped visibly as Dean's head snapped to the side painfully. Covering his cheek, which was already starting to sting, he just stared at her silently. To be honest, he had expected her anger. But for her to actually slap him? That stung worse than anything he could have ever gone through before. "I couldn't lose him." He mumbled out quietly.

"But you had no problem losing me." She replied quietly, surprising herself that she said it instead of just thinking about it. Shaking her head, she just looked at Bobby before returning her eyes to her boyfriend. "You should've left me in that town." She mumbled before abruptly turning on her heel to stumble away. The pain in her leg was practically nonexistant as she moved back into the house, ignoring Sam's looks of worry as she practically collapsed back against the couch. Not saying a word, she just laid down and covered her face with her hands. No matter how angry she was at Dean, she knew better than to tell Sam what she had just found out. That was Dean's burden to bear. He would have to be the one to tell his brother that he sacrificed the rest of his life in order to give Sam his future back.

* * *

No one said anything as they stared at Ellen. Shortly after Chance had left the wreckage yard where Bobby and Dean had escaped to so they could talk, Ellen had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Now they all sat around Bobby's shabby kitchen table, a shot of holy water sitting in front of Ellen.

"Is this really nessessary?" She asked, her eyes trained on Bobby. When he nodded, she just sighed and downed the holy water, no signs presenting that it had hurt her in any way. Sliding the glass back to Bobby, she just smiled weakly. "Whiskey now, if you don't mind."

Bobby obliged her and filled the glass with whiskey, no one seeming to notice when Chance grabbed the bottle and took a quick drink herself. "What happened?" She asked once she had gotten over the intial burning of the dark brown liquid. "How'd you get out of the Roadhouse?" Chance and Sam had been told about the Roadhouse fire shortly after arriving at Bobby's.

"Pure luck. I was supposed to be in there with everyone else." She replied, sighing as she downed the shot of whiskey then went on to explain everything. They had run out of pretzels, of all things, and she had only been gone for fifteen minutes. But in that time, Ash had called her as well and told her to look in the safe they kept in the basement of the bar.

"Did the demon find what was in the safe?" Bobby asked, relieved when she shook her head and produced what had been in the safe. A map that showed them the exact same thing that Bobby had asked Sam to look over. Demonic activity had sparked up almost as soon as the demon had left them all in South Dakota. Cattle mutilations, demonic possessions, electrical storms. All in a concentrated area.

Chance carefully pulled the map toward her and grabbed a nearby Sharpie. A sudden thought attacked her when she learned that all of this was happening in Wyoming. "The demons are surrounding it for a reason." She replied and looked up at her dad before requesting a certain book. Now that her anger toward Dean had drained, the pain in her leg took over. Especially when one of the stitches broke in her calf from her exertion outside. The book was brought over to her and she abandoned the map long enough to start flipping through the pages.

"What do you think it is?" Dean asked as he stood behind her. They seemed to be putting their personal issues aside, at least right then, in favor of working together. But a part of him did wonder what would happen once this was all over. Providing it even would be over.

"I don't know." She mumbled but instantly took those words back when she found what she was looking for. Grabbing the marker again, she drew Xs over little crosses on the map. Sitting back slightly in the stool, she blew hair off her face lightly then shook her head slowly. "I don't believe it." She mumbled then started to explain what she had just found. "Each one of these little crosses are frontier churches that were built by Samuel Colt." When Sam looked at her in confusion, she nodded when he asked if it was the same man that had built the Colt John had traded for Dean's life. The gun that could kill anything. "He connected them all with private railroad lines." She explained quietly, the marker in her hand moving again to connect everything. A low whistle passed her lips as she looked at Sam, Dean, then to Bobby. "Okay, that? Is one badass Devil's Trap."


	40. Chapter 40

_I own nothing but the main, female lead. No copyright or infringement intended. Please review!_

* * *

**Chapter Forty:**

Chance stayed silent as she sat out on Bobby's front porch. It had only been a few minutes since everything had come tumbling out into the open. Not only did they figure out why Samuel Colt creative a massive Devil's Trap in Southern Wyoming, but they had located what the Trap was protecting, as well as why she, Sam, and all of the others had been selected and ultimately pitted against one another. A full-blooded demon couldn't pass the barriers that the railways provided, but someone with a bit of demonic blood could. Namely the one that had almost killed her and Sam. Jake. Curling her right leg a little closer up to her chest, she just sighed as she stared out at the junk yard in front of her. A place where she had laughed, played, and hurt herself many times during her youth. All of those days, time spent playing Hide and Seek with the Winchester boys seemed like a lifetime away. One she wished she could get back.

Dean cleared his throat lightly as he stepped out onto the porch. He had noticed her disappearing act but figured there was a reason behind it. She was moving around a little better and the last thing he wanted to do was crowd her or piss her off even more. He could tell, just by the look on her face, that she was still deeply hurt by the deal he had made to bring Sam back to life. A deal that Sam wouldn't know about if he had his way. Kneeling in front of her, he just studied her facial expression for a moment then gestured at the dusty planks beside her. "This seat taken?"

"It's a free country." She mumbled and rested her head back against the house behind them. Her eyes flickered onto him for just a second then moved away as he got settled next to her. "I understand why you did it." She spoke quietly after a few lingering beats of silence. Turning her head, she let no emotion or expression register on her face. "But that doesn't mean I agree with it."

"I had to do something, Chance." He sighed, his full attention and focus set on her. "I couldn't just let him die. Bobby and I...we had already been told that you were going to make it. But Sam...?"

"So you sacrifice yourself so your brother can live." She mumbled out hollowly then shook her head as she looked down at her bandaged leg, torn pieces of denim hdiing some of the stark white gauze from view. In all the commotion and turmoil, she hadn't even thought to change out of her blood-stained clothes. "You did it so that you wouldn't have to deal with losing your brother, right?" She asked after a second, even turning slightly to look at him. When he nodded, she sighed and went on. "What's he gonna do when he loses you? When I lose you? Did you ever stop to think of that?"

"Of course I did!" He breathed and manuevered around to look at her, not letting himself flinch when he tried to grab her hand but was rebuffed. "But I'm already on borrowed time, Chance. I'm not even supposed to be here. And if I can save Sam's life...then maybe..."

"Maybe what?" She broke in before she could really stop herself, emotion finally evident on her facial features. "Maybe your life will mean something? Well guess what, Dean? It already does. Your life, your...existance is not better or worse than anyone else's on this planet. You're needed here. Not just by Sam, but by me as well. It's gonna kill him when he loses you and realizes that you're being taken away so he can live. And what do you think's gonna happen to me?" The words were just spilling past her lips before she could even have a hope of stopping them. "You're all I have left. I'm so..." Trailing off, she forced tears back as she looked up at the sky, which was already starting to darken with the impending sunset. "I've always depended on you. Even when I didn't want to, it was something that I couldn't stop. I never stopped wanting you in my life, wishing and hoping that things would get better. But they always got worse." She sighed and let her chin drop to her chest for a second before she slowly looked at him again. "When...this is all over, I'm disappearing again."

"What?" Dean blurted out before he could stop himself, climbing to his own feet when Chance moved to stand. "Why?"

"Because." She sighed and held her arms out helplessly at her sides before they slapped back against her thighs. "I can't be there when you die. I'm sorry, I'm not strong enough. You should be able to do what you want with the last year of your life. You don't need to spend it dealing with me and to be honest? I'd rather say goodbye to you now, walking away from a healthy and happy man, than burying the only man I've ever really loved."

Dean's lips parted several times to say something, but each time; no sound passed. His voice was stuck in his throat and there was a small part of him that could understand why Chance wanted out when she did. Her bond to him, as well as Sam, would be broken whenever they were able to find the Demon and end things. But that didn't mean that he wanted to spend his last year without her. "There's no changing your mind, is there?"

"No." She answered bravely. "Just like there's no taking back the deal you made."

* * *

Chance swallowed thickly as she stood rooted in place between Dean and Ellen. Jake stood in front of them, glancing over at Sam as if he'd seen a ghost. Sam was supposed to be dead and the young man was finally starting to realize that his older brother had lied to him. But things had taken a dangerous turn when Jake turned his abilities onto Ellen, forcing her to point her gun at herself instead of at him. "Put the gun down." She breathed, every single nerve ending in her body trained on the former soldier standing in front of her. The young man that was about two seconds away from opening the gate to Hell.

"And if I don't?" Jake sneered, obviously more than a little surprised to see Chance on her feet as well.

"You're not the only one with psychic abilities here, Jake." She replied evenly, feeling completely cut off and removed from everything unfolding in front of them. "You really think I'm going to let you hurt someone else I care about? I'll put Ava to shame and I'll have a damn good time doing it."

"Good luck, Girlie." He grinned and shook his head slightly. "It doesn't work on me, remember?"

"Duh." She blurted out before she could stop herself. "Damn, you really do take people for face value." She started to laugh but the sound was cut off when Ellen started mumbling for them to shoot him. That wasn't going to happen and they all seemed to know that no one would be able to get a shot off before the gun in the other woman's hand went off. When they were forced to drop their guns, Chance did so begrudgingly, instantly reaching for the gun that was still tucked against her back when Jake turned and shoved the Colt into a hole at the base of the crypt in front of them. It turned and swirled around, shots ringing out as both Chance and Sam advanced on him. Catching him in the back, he stumbled backward and the remaining 'gifted' ones came in closer. Glancing over at Sam, she didn't even bother flinching when he fired one shot into Jake's bloodied face, her gun going off just seconds after he did. Too bad there wasn't much celebrating that could be done. The Colt served as a key and the componets surrounding the antique gun swirled around. Acting on sheer impulse, Dean quickly pulled the gun from the lock.

"Run!" Bobby screamed, Dean grabbing Chance as they took off away from the crypt. Not being able to run, she just pulled her legs up to her chest, almost crying out in pain when several stitches in her leg split open and blood started to seep down her leg. Both she and Dean fell to the ground with sickening thuds, a large tombstone hiding them from view. "Stay here." He demanded lowly, looking her directly in the eye. Before she could even think about protesting, a hard kiss was pressed to her lips before he disappeared from view. The large Devil's Trap was now broken and the old cowboy cemetary was fair game. Moving, she forced herself not to wince as she peeked over the edge of the tombstone shielding her. Spirits were pouring out of the open door faster than anyone could ever hope to be. Sam, Bobby, and Ellen all stood on the other side of the door, trying in vain to close the gate before even more demons came pouring past the barrier. But when Yellow Eyes suddenly appeared, Sam rushed to his brother's side as he went flying backward, slamming headfirst into a tombstone not far from where she was hiding. Ducking down, her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest as the demon gained the upper hand.

Finally not able to just sit still, she carefully slid out from behind the tombstone just in time to see a blurred shape advance on the demon. The actual demon became dislodged from the human it was possessing and two fuzzy shapes began to wrestle. A gasp rushed past Chance's lips when one of the shapes was thrown away and she was finally able to get a clear view of who had fallen into the grass. The demon quickly re entered it's host but it was too late. Dean had managed to regain control of the Colt. She rose to her full height just as the final bullet expelled from the gun, shooting the demon in the shoulder. Looking at the wound in surprise, he just blinked at Dean before the demon once again came pouring out of the dying body. The man collapsed into the grass, forcing Chance into movement. Limping closer, Dean was quick to catch her when her foot hit a patch of uneven ground. But their, as well as Sam's attention was focused on the figure rising from the grass. The blurred shape that had taken the demon by surprise and given Dean the time he needed to get the Colt back.

John Winchester had been successful in climbing out of hell when the gate opened. Luckily, as soon as the demon was killed, Bobby and Ellen were able to shut the large door. They too noticed the figure walking toward Sam, Dean and Chance. Everyone was focused on John as he came up to Dean. Smiling, his spirit said nothing as he touched his oldest son on the shoulder. Looking up at her boyfriend, she could plainly see the tears welling up in his eyes before John focused on her. A smile and wink was given at her before he turned to look at his youngest son. Sam wasn't able to hide the tears as he smiled at his father. Backing away from his family, Chance finally smiled when John's spirit began to glow. He had made things right. He had managed to climb out of hell and help them close the gate to hell. But almost as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Making sure that she was steady on her feet, Dean left her side to join his brother as they stared down at the human that had been killed when the demon was finally sent back to hell.

"It's finally over." Sam breathed as he stared down at the body, neither man noticing Chance as she limped up beside them. Grabbing Sam's arm, she just smiled weakly up at him as Dean knelt down beside the lifeless form. "That's for our moms." It didn't seem like nearly enough to say, but yet that was all he could think of. Rising back to his full height, he just sighed and looked at Chance, who now had tears in her eyes as well. The boys managed to help her back to the car, Bobby patching her leg up as best he could as Ellen looked around at the damage. Once her leg had been rebandaged, Ellen offered to get her checked out to make sure that no damage had been done when they had to get away from the opening gate.

Nodding, she accepted then sighed as she looked up at Dean as Sam, Bobby, and Ellen moved to give them some space. "So this is it, huh?"

"Yeah." She sighed and winced when weight was pushed through her damaged leg. "It's better this way."

"Well at least now you get to try and be normal." He attempted to joke, shaking his head slightly when it bombed.

"I'm never gonna be normal." She smiled sadly, taking an unsteady step toward him. His hands were quick to clasp around her sides, keeping her from falling over. She didn't struggle out of his touch, her own hand moving to cover his cheek. "I grew up with you, remember?" She laughed lightly then sighed unevenly as she tried to hold tears back. "Check in with Bobby every now and then, okay? I'll be keeping in touch with him so he'll have information about me. Y'know, providing you want to know..."

"I'd rather have you with us. There's probably over a thousand demons that escaped. We could really use your help."

She just shook her head as her hand moved from his cheek to his shoulder. "I can't do this anymore, Dean. We're not going to get normal. This is all we get and I'm okay with that."

"What if I'm not?" He mumbled, his voice dropping just enough to clue her in as to how close to tears the older man actually was. "I don't want to say goodbye to you, Chance."

"Everyone has to say goodbye sometime, right?" She asked out then leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Dean was quick to react, winding his arms around her waist as he pulled her flush up against his body. The kiss deepened considerably and both people just seemed to cling to one another. Grudgingly pulling away when she could feel her lungs starting to burn for air, she forced her eyes to open as a few tears spilled from her eyes. "I love you, you asshole. Never forget that, okay?"

"I love you too." He repeated quietly then sighed and lightly rubbed her sides once her feet were firmly back on the ground. "You make sure you find a guy that's worthy, okay? Make him treat you right and all that...crap."

She couldn't help but snicker as she nodded, swiping the back of her hand across her eyes. "You live it up, okay? Kick ass, take names. Be that badass Dean Winchester that I fell in love with."

"Well I've always been there." He joked, grinning crookedly at her before it faded. When she told him to take care of Sam, he nodded and eagerly pressed his lips to hers yet again. Not being able to let herself deepen the kiss to dizzying proportions, she just pulled away and took a couple of unsteady steps back. "Go do your thing, okay? I'm always here if you need me."

"I know." He nodded and smiled at her then looked over when Sam, Ellen, and Bobby came up to them. "You ready?" Ellen asked, honestly hating the scene that they had just walked in on. Dean and Chance had become so made for each other that no one, knowing who they were and what they were like, wanted to see them apart. But the chips had fallen where they did, and Chance honestly didn't have it in her to stick around and wait for Dean to be taken.

Giving him one last, sad smile, she turned and hugged Sam carefully. "Take care of him, okay?" She mumbled out, her voice already laced with the hints of tears. "I don't wanna hear about how he's gonna have to cheat death again."

"I'll take care of him." Sam vowed quietly, burying his head in Chance's shoulder before she moved back and sighed. "You take care of yourself too, okay?"

She nodded and forced the brightest smile onto her face that she could muster. But it was shortlived. Not wanting either one of the Winchester boys to see her cry, she just limped over to Bobby's truck and climbed in, her head instantly meeting the back of the seat as hot tears rolled down her grubby face. She didn't even bother to hide when Bobby slid in behind the wheel, Ellen taking her place on the other side of her. "You did the right thing, honey."

"Yeah, just feels like my heart's turning to steel or something." She mumbled, wiping her face as she sat up and lightly slapped the dashboard in front of her. "Okay! Let's go get a doctor to stitch me up. A real one this time, okay?" She asked, smiling a little when her dad and friend let light laughter fill the air. This was how it had to be. She may have hated it, yes. But nothing lasted forever. Not even this.

**THE END.**


End file.
